Exposure
by ironicallynameless
Summary: Oscar is in love with Mia, and is dying to tell her about his secret life as a spy, but will he be allowed to tell her, and if he does, what danger will the truth put her in? Please check this out, even if you are a die-hard Blane and Daisy fan!
1. Chapter 1

"Erm, I've got to go, just remembered... dentists appointment" The pathetic excuse almost makes me laugh, God they're definitely getting worse, he's used every one under the sun: family crisis, felt ill, coursework he needed to hand in, gifted and talented meeting, sessions for under achievers, the list goes on. And every other day I accept the lie and let him go; but not today. Today he arrived at school with a black eye, split lip, bruises all over his arms and a gash across his cheek. So today I position myself in front of the door, spread my arms and reply, "No you haven't."

I watch his face move from startled to pleading, as he begs me with his eyes to play along. Unfortunately the deep purple circle around his pleading eye makes me even more determined to stand my ground. I know he wouldn't physically remove me, or at least I hope he wouldn't, so the only way for him to go wherever he's going is for him to meet my conditions, actually condition, singular.

"Tell me why you have to leave, tell me the truth", I try to sound assertive, but I struggle to raise my voice above a whisper, surprising myself at how much this all means to me. I watch his face, watch him consider another lie, and then as his shoulders hunch in defeat, resign to the truth, or at least I think that's what he's resigned to. He leans in close to me, so his lips are almost brushing my ear lobe and whispers "I'm a spy."

**~*~**

My heart is racing, and it isn't because I'm unfit and running. When I get to the door, Rose and Carrie are already waiting; I see their smiles but am too lost in thought to respond. I walk into the cramped caretaker's closet like a corpse, aware of the quiet mumble of the girls' idle chatter. I don't even notice the rush of air as we plummet down into the Earth, or the fact that my school uniform has been replaced by a leather jacket and smart black trackies. Even as we walk into HQ, I'm still too confused to register Frank's greeting. I feel like I'm concentrating every part of my being on coming to a decision, I try to guess how the team will react, but I can't kid myself that I have any idea. They're just going to have to trust me.

"I need to talk to you" I blurt out, interrupting what I think was Frank congratulating us on another successful mission.

Frank's smile doesn't falter, but his head cocks inquisitively "Sure Oscar, go ahead, what do you want to say?"

Now that I've decided I'd tell them I realise I don't actually know how, "Erm..." I sit down heavily in a chair, and watch as Rose, Frank and Carrie copy. Staring at the floor, I try to string together a sentence that will make them understand.

Carrie's soft voice interrupts my thoughts; she leans slightly closer and looks right into my eyes, a look of concern in her own, "Are you ok?"

I take a deep breath, bluntness is my only option, "I told someone, about, the organisation", and leaning back in my chair I lower my eyes, not daring to watch my colleague's expressions. There's a truly awkward pause and I consider lifting my head to try and figure out what they are thinking, but chicken out at the thought of the anger, or worse, disappointment I might meet.

As usual, Frank speaks first, his voice not angry, but with a hard edge that tells me he's giving me a chance to explain before he blows his top, "Who did you tell, and what exactly did you tell them?"

Now I have no other choice but to look up, as I expected Frank's eyes are not angry, but wary; Rose looks confused, her logical brain unable to comprehend my confession; but Carrie, it's Carrie's eyes that worry me ,she looks almost hurt. I pull myself together; this isn't that big of a deal. OK so I shocked them, but at least I've prepared them for the worst, and the explanation will calm them down a little "I told, Mia Fenton," at this point I look at Rose and Carrie, "She's in our English class, and my French class, erm she's blonde, quite-"

"-yeah Oscar, we know her, the way you've been going on about her, how could we not!" Rose's smile is understanding and I'm grateful for some extension of friendship, but the smile I return is weak, Carrie's now staring at the ground and I don't know what's upset her.

"Well, as you've obviously noticed I've been spending quite a lot of time with her" a scoff from Rose's direction interrupts me, "and she's not stupid, she doesn't believe the excuses I feed her, but she's never pried before, just accepted that I didn't want to tell her, whatever. Anyway today she changed her mind, I think because of this" I gesture to the cut on my cheek and my black eye, received in a scuff between me and a skull agent on our previous mission. I'd over powered him of course, but not before he'd got a few good blows to my face and arms; I'd explained it away to Mia with some story about falling down the stairs, but I highly doubt she's believed any of it. "So today, we were in the IT suite, just us, and when my communicator bleeps I make an excuse as normal"

"Which one did you use?" Rose butts in.

"Dentist"

"That's pretty plausible"

"Maybe the first time, but after nine trips in a month, I don't think anyone would be fooled" the easy banter of everyday life distracts me for a moment, it's a frequent talking point between the three of us, what excuses we make for responding to our communicators and dashing to HQ. We spend hours of stakeouts coming up with lists of excuses, but they're always used up within about a week.

"So I go for the door but she stops me, won't let me go until I tell her where I'm really going"

Now it's Frank's turn to interrupt, "Couldn't you have just ignored the communicator, you know that if a situation's difficult you can ignore the first communicator call, I only called you to congratulate you, I thought you'd be free during lunch."

It's time to be completely honest, again I take the cowardly option and stare at my interlocked hands "I know; there's a thousand ways I could have avoided telling her, man I could have lifted her out of my way if I needed to but I didn't want to." I raise my eyes to gage the reactions of my colleagues, none of them look particularly angry, so I continue, " I'm so sick of all the stupid lies and what they're doing to her, I'm sick of abusing her trust, I really care about her," a rise of heat in my cheeks betrays just how much I care about her, " I didn't want to lie anymore" I pause almost stopping myself from saying the next sentence, "but if you want me to, for the good of the team and everything, if you don't trust her, all I told her was that I was a spy, she probably doesn't believe me and I can easily say I just made it up, this can end now if it has to." Sentimental speech over, there's nothing more I can do but wait for the verdict. Its MI9 rules that each agent is allowed to take one person into confidence about their work, after an official security scan. Few agents choose to, happy to continue lying rather than risk alienating their confidant with tales of villains, gadgets and secret spies. I know Mia has already passed the security scan, every student in the school, and the staff, had had to before MI9 decided to base our HQ here. And there is no-one else now or in the future I will want to confide in; but the other members of an agent's particular sector have to agree to the exposure. If they don't, and an agent ignores their verdict that agent will be immediately removed from the organisation and have their memories wiped.

Frank takes control, "Right well Oscar, you know the rules, we need to come to a decision, privately where you cannot influence us, so why don't you step into the interrogation room and we'll decide what's going to happen."

"What's with the formality, Frank, we all know what the outcomes going to be." Rose is obviously impatient to get her hands on the new computer software just sent through from base control, but her confidence in me is reassuring: one down, two to go.

"Now, now Rose, you know that official procedure must be followed at all times, we'll see you in a minute Oscar", my cue to leave.

I sit in the grim box-like interrogation room. The cold metal of the chair digs into my back and the two- way mirror only reflects my confused face. I've been so desperate to tell Mia everything, unlike Rose and Carrie I've no-one to confide in. Immediate family are allowed to know everything; in most cases, especially with the teenage sector that Carrie, Rose and I are a part of, agents are the sons or daughters of other agents. Rose's family is like that, both her parents are in the research sector, designing the gadgets and coming up with formulas to predict the enemies' next step. That's where Rose is heading, she's already smarter than half of the research sector, and is constantly being called in for consultancy work. Carrie on the other hand comes from a non-agency family, father a banker, mother a fitness trainer. Carrie's surprisingly level headed considering the pressure put on her by her mother, her mother's desperate for her to become a gymnast star, not that her mother's a bad person, just a little ... overzealous. That's how Carrie, joined the agency, scouted at a gymnastics competition, any one with her agility, speed and determination is bound to make a good spy. I on the other hand had a single agent parent, my mother, killed on a mission overseas. As an orphan of the organisation, I was shipped from safe home to safe home until I was ten, when I was enrolled in the youth agent training academy, a pretty new initiative back then. Six years later here I am, specialist in surveillance, working with Rose and Carrie, undercover in a school, possibly about to get thrown out because I blabbed before checking with my team.

I jump as Carrie enters the room, forgetting it's soundproof, so I got no warning she was coming.

"Is this the point where I'm supposed to pretend we voted no, and then watch the expression on your face change when I tell you I'm only kidding."

"Yeah, this would have been the apt moment; unfortunately you seem to have lost the element of surprise."

I smile and sigh with relief at the same time, quite a difficult feat actually, but before I can truly revel in my freedom I need to find out what's going on in Carrie's head.

"And now you're going to tell me what's up." I make my demand softly, trying to let her know I'm not angry, just worried.

She's quick to reply as if she's wanted to say something for a while, and now I've given her a chance, "Why didn't you tell me?"

For the second time in the space of a minute I feel that happy wave of relief. I can understand why Carrie's feeling a bit peeved, we're pretty close, having gone through training together, and usually we consult each other about everything. Luckily this situation is easy enough to sort, "I couldn't, some section of MI9 procedure_, the agent must not discuss in private the planned exposure with any other agents in their sector prior to the judgement, in order to combat possible blackmail, harassment or bribery_, though that's not quite a direct quote." I smirk and Carrie rolls her eyes, I have a particular knack for memorising phrases and it annoys her no end.

"So we're cool?"

I don't get a reply, just a light punch on the arm before she leaves the room, presumably to wind up Rose as she pours over her new software.

I'm left to decide what I'm going to tell Mia first.

**~*~**

I don't see him again till French. Halfway through the lesson he slopes in, mumbles some sort of excuse and comes to sit at our desk. There's an awkward silence as he unpacks his bag and I try to get my head round the conditional tense, neither of us knows what to say. I spent the entire lunch debating whether or not to believe him. It sounds so fictional, like he's taking the piss, but at the same time it makes sense, he skips out of school to go on secret missions, has an annoyingly good grasp of five different languages, can memorise whole sentences without even trying, he's funny about having his photo taken and has always been a bit vague about his past. Still, a spy? I didn't think they still existed, and he's only 16, surely that's not old enough to work for national security. My mind ached as I went round and round in circles, and I couldn't stand it anymore so I spoke first.

"Oscar, you have some serious explaining to do"

"I know, and I'm going to explain, but – Pour aller à la banque, s'il vous plait? – now's not really the time"

The random bit of French was Oscar replying to a question I hadn't even heard, in perfect French as usual.

"I don't want your full life story" I hiss, pausing to scrawl something in my book as Monsieur Bernard casts his beady eyes in my direction, "I just want to know a bit more than 'you're a spy'"

"Ok, fine, yes I am a spy, working in the teenage department of MI9. I don't know father and my mother was an agent killed when I was two, as an MI9 orphan I wind up in training. Now I work undercover with Rose Gupta and Carrie Stewart, our HQ is beneath the school and Frank the Janitor is actually our superior." Oscar finally breathes and then grabs my book to start correcting my work.

I sit gawping for a while, trying to process this sudden input of information; eventually I get a grip on reality and realise that Oscar is staring at me with a look of concern on his face.

"cool." Is all I can utter to put his mind at rest, but it seems to do the job as he grins and starts explaining where exactly I'm going wrong when it comes to French verbs. Some things never change.

**~*~**


	2. Chapter 2 De Luca's den

**Hey, I'm only just getting used to this site so I forgot to do a disclaimer for my first chapter, but er you know, MI High is not mine nor are the characters Rose, Carrie, Oscar of Frank. **

**It should get a bit more exciting now, only one POV in this chapter, so should be less confusing. Apologies for the clichéd evil Italian guy, I couldn't resist! :)**** Hope you enjoy, please R&R**

**El x

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It's been two months since I told Mia the truth, and I love every day of it. Just the tell-tale smile that Mia gives me as I make an excuse to leave class, or the fact that she now helps me come up with the excuses, rather than being on the receiving end of them, is utter bliss. All the little things that I can share with her, like our new gadgets and the latest MI9 gossip. Or how, when I let my guard down and got a couple of scratches from some SKULL thug, she did the mothering bit and washed them out for me. Being able to teach her self defence and the art of reading people's body language, without worrying that she just might twig, everything makes me so sure I've made the right decision.

I walk into HQ grinning, Carrie and Rose are doing the whole brain over brawn debate, trying to decide which is actually the most useful skill for an agent. Everything seems pretty normal, Frank looks a little pale, but it's probably just lack of sleep. I collapse into a swivel chair and quiz Frank, "So what's the briefing Frank, does the PM need his laundry doing, or are we off to scrub the graffiti off the Houses of Parliament?" I keep my tone light, but I'm actually feeling a little miffed at all the mundane assignments we've been given recently, I 'm starting to feel like we're MI9s carrier pigeons, or something like that.

"I'm afraid it's a little more serious than that Oscar" and from the sound of Frank's voice, I know he's not kidding. I notice deep circles around his eyes and get the feeling that whatever it is, it's worrying him.

He flicks on the large computer screen, and a black and white picture of a middle aged man with dark, slicked-back hair walking out of an Italian _banca_ appears. "De Luca's out" is all it takes to send a cold shiver down my spine.

Calvino De Luca is one of the MI9s most notorious enemies. When he was younger he lived in England, and, in 1979, at twenty-one, enrolled as an MI9 agent. The placement caused massive unrest in MI9, as it is unwritten law, that only British citizens can enter the organisation. Many talked of bribery, as De Luca comes from a wealthy Italian family, and it had been apparent for some time that the agency was running low on funds. Against the turbulence, De Luca proved to be a fine agent. That was, until just two years after joining he was accused of being a traitor and found guilty of delivering classified information to SKULL agents. De Luca was immediately exiled from the organisation, but escaped prison time due to a rather large donation to the organization by his wealthy family. Today De Luca does his best to hurt the organisation in any way possible, he's responsible for 23 agent deaths, the destruction of the HQ in Canterbury and millions of pounds worth of damage to equipment. Luckily up till now he's been serving a supposedly life sentence in Italy for killing his ex-wife's lover. No-one in the agency though he was going to serve the full sentence, but we all hoped so.

"And unfortunately my friends, that's not the worst of it. Somehow, and we're still trying to figure out how, he got his hands on the complete agency employees files. Basically he has a name, age, photo, retina scan and thumbprint for every person who works, or has ever worked, for MI9" The small gasp Carrie lets out describes perfectly what I'm thinking as I sit dumbstruck trying to process the information. After a little while I'm aware that Frank has started speaking again and I quickly pull myself together and start listening.

"-can guess, the whole agency's been set to work on recovering the information as soon as possible. We do have one ace up our sleeve, De Luca's daughter, Sofia, is currently is in our custody and her father is unaware of this fact."

Rose interrupts, "How exactly is he unaware that his daughter is missing?"

"We have created a fake school trip to the De Luca's home region of Tuscany, knowing full well that Calvino would not let an opportunity for his daughter to learn a little of her heritage pass. The trip in itself is entirely genuine, paid for out of the MI9s budget; however Sofia never made the flight."

I quickly figure out what we'd normally do: send in an agent undercover as the daughter to recover the files; however the slight fact that there isn't a single agent in the organisation who would get past a simple thumb scan undetected puts an end to that plan. Yet from the slight smile on Frank's face I guess he has a plan. Rose has obviously come to the same conclusion as she blurts out, "So come on Frank, tell us your flash of inspiration, you've obviously spent the whole night working on it."

Frank's smile deepens; so much so you wouldn't have guessed the entire organisation was in danger, just assumed Frank had solved a rather challenging cryptic crossword clue.

"Well, we cannot send in an agent, right?"

"Right" we chorus

"But the situation lends itself to infiltration using the daughter as a cover, especially since appearance wouldn't be an issue as Sofia regularly changes her appearance with drastic cosmetic surgery"

"Convenient" I mutter, before sighing exasperatedly, "Where's this going Frank?"

"So what if we don't send in an agent?"

I still don't understand, and from Rose and Carrie's faces, neither do they.

Frank continues regardless of our obvious bewilderment, "What if we were to send in a civilian girl, similar age and appearance to Sofia, who had knowledge of the organisation as well as a basic knowledge of gadgets, self defence, agent sign, and etcetera."

"That would be just perfect Frank, but I don't see many of those around, especially not ones who can be recruited and trained in a matter of weeks, it's never going to..."

Carrie trails off and the light in her eyes tells me something's just clicked, several seconds later Rose's soft cry of "Oh" leaves me as the only one who hasn't figured out yet. I wrack my brains, and suddenly it clicks.

"No." I have to stop myself form shouting, but even still the force in my voice makes Carrie jump slightly. I've just understood who Frank's talking about, and there is no way I will let him put her in that kind of danger. Frank is going to try and send Mia into De Luca's den, is going to send her to her death, and it's all my fault.


	3. Chapter 3 Dealing with it

**Another chapter just a day later – I must have too much time on my hands! So another Oscar POV, hope the angst stuff isn't getting boring, I'm just an emotional kinda gal! Ooh and I'd like to dedicate this chapter (if you can dedicate chapters) to fire storm pixie my only and best reviewer. Thank you for the lovely comments, I'm not sure I'll be approaching Kudos just yet, but you never know. :)**** Anyways, enjoy, I'll try and write more soon.**

**El x

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Frank looks surprisingly unfazed, and then I see it, the cold determination in his eyes. It's almost as if he's stopped thinking of Mia as a human, just a solution to a problem, but a solution he will not lose. He blinks and suddenly Frank my mentor is back in the room. But the split second when he let his guard down, when he revealed just how much he's willing to pay to get those files back, scared me. I can't stop the ball of anger that explodes inside my head; I won't let them do this. Not to her.

I simply repeat what I'd said before, "No."

Frank replies, with care in his voice, but grit determination in his eyes, "I'm sorry Oscar, but we really have no other choice."

I'm shouting now, trying to make him hear what I'm saying, trying to make him understand. "I said no, No you are not putting her in this situation. I WON'T LET YOU!" From the corner of my eye I see Carrie cringe away from me slightly and I'm immediately ashamed of myself, I should have more control. I glare at the floor, grasping my head and trying to get my feelings under control. I take a few breaths, steel myself and meet Franks gaze once again, my voice is softer now, but the resolution is clear, "I'm sorry Frank, but I won't let you put Mia in that sort of danger, you'll have to find someone else"

Frank holds my gaze as he calmly replies, "I'm afraid it's not up to you."

The anger in my head overflows, I've lost it and unless I get out of here quickly I'm going to hit something, or someone. I take a deep breath, turn on my heel and stride out of the room, as its closest I walk into the interrogation room, close the door and rest my forehead on the cold metal, before I finally let out the breath.

I stand there for a while, the sturdy metal of the door the only thing holding me up as my world collapses around me. The last time I was in this room I was contemplating with joy everything I would tell Mia, and now my selfishness, my need to confide in her everything, has put her in the gravest of danger. My fury has subsided, only to be replaced by a numbing realisation, Frank's right, I have no power to stop them recruiting Mia, and I know she'll say yes. She'd do anything to keep the organisation going, she knows how much I love this job, knows how much I need the job, and nothing will stop her from accepting. She will walk to her death just to save me the heartache of losing MI9. It's going to happen and there's nothing I can do.

I'm pulled from the depths of my despair as I feel the door move beneath me, I step back and Rose gently pushes open the door, Carrie following her closely. I slump into a chair, Rose pulls up another and Carrie perches on the edge of the table.

"Oscar," Rose pauses as I don't raise my head. I feel Carrie take my hand, and at this I raise my eyes to look into hers. I see the concern in them that, as I turn my head to look at Rose, is mirrored in Rose's eyes. "She'll be ok." Rose's words are comforting, but try as I might I can't believe them.

My voice choked with emotion I ask, "What if she isn't? What if she gets hurt? What if..." I can't even bring myself to say it; the thought of me being the reason for her death is too much to bear. Cassie squeezes my hand and I know she's telling me it won't happen, but I can't rid my mind of these traitor thoughts, I can't get over the fear of losing her.

Rose leans forwards slightly, and her words, though softly spoken, project force and authority, "But she won't. Because we'll be behind her. She will be in that hell-hole a matter of hours and we'll be with her every step. We'll give her the best preparation so she knows how to deal with every possible situation. She will go in, recover the files and be out before De Luca even realises his daughter is home. Nothing will happen to her because, we, you, will make sure it doesn't. If there was any other way we'd take it, but there's not, so we make the best of the situation and you focus every part of yourself on making sure that she knows everything there is to know, do you understand?"

I can't help but feel like a small child in the headmistress's office, but the certainty of her words reassures me. Knowing what I have to do gives me focus, something to distract me from the what-ifs that cloud my brain. I take a deep breath, and nod. I know what I have to do.

The girls smile, and hug me before I say, "So I guess we better tell her." I steel myself, get up and walk back into HQ. I can't bring myself to meet Frank fully in the eyes yet, so I glance at him, nod my head, to show him I'm with them and wait for his response. The gesture seems to be enough for him because he smiles grimly, and says "Right well we know what we have to do. I'll contact base control and inform them of our plan. And you three better go and get Mia, no time like the present."


	4. Chapter 4 Discovering HQ

**Haha, another chapter, thanks to my inability to sleep. Change of POV just in case you hadn't noticed, this is from Mia's perspective. Probably not one of my better chapters, but please R&R anyway.**

**El x

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I'm sitting on a bench, enjoying one of the rare days of warm weather. It's nice, just relaxing, I've bunched up my shirt sleeves so I can feel the warm caress of the sun on my skin. I feel myself slipping into that dozy sun-baked state, and while it's good to feel peaceful, I have to admit I'm a little bored. Oscar has run off to HQ again, leaving me to spend my lunch alone, again. Sure I could find someone to talk to, but that requires effort, and the sun is slowly sapping my energy. Ah well I think I better just resign to enjoying the sun alone, might even catch up on my sleep if I can block out the noises of the football pitch. I begin to watch the increasingly chaotic football match, when I spot a shadowed figure coming towards me.

"Hey, didn't realise you'd be back so soon, what did-"I stop when I see Carrie and Rose following Oscar. That's kind of strange, I know they work together, but seeing all three of them in the same place around school is actually pretty rare.

"Oh hey, sorry I didn't see you guys" I call as I shield my eyes form the sun.

Carrie waves and Rose smiles, but for some reason it all looks rather forced. I smile back but I'm starting to feel really awkward. It's just the way the three of them are approaching in this triangle formation looming above me, I feel sort of at a disadvantage, and a little threatened. When Oscar comes and sits down next to me my paranoia increases. It's the same forced smile, like everyone knows something I don't. He isn't even looking at me anymore, just nervously twiddling his thumbs. Carrie and Rose are stood a couple of metres in front of me, both, from what I can make out through the glare of the sun, look just as awkward as Oscar. I've decided that none of them are actually going to speak until I say something, so I take the plunge and go first.

"OK so I think we've reached the maximum amount of time for an awkward silence, so I'm gonna go first, what's going on?"

My question seems to break the spell as Carrie begins to talk animatedly, "Oh nothing to worry about, I'm Carrie by the way, I know you're in my English class, but I've never properly introduced myself. So we were wondering, seen as you know about the agency and stuff, why don't you come down to HQ and check it out. It's really cool, we have this amazing super computer, I don't understand half of it, that's really Rose's department, but it looks pretty impressive. Oh and you'll be able to see us in our uniforms, the blacks pretty boring but they look quite good. Wow, this is so cool, I can see why Oscar was so desperate to tell you about the organisation, I've only ever told my mum and she was just like – 'as long as it doesn't interrupt your training' , honestly parents..." Carrie pauses, she seems to have just realised she's been rambling, slightly. From the looks on Rose and Oscar's faces the excessive talking at high speeds is a norm, so I just smile back. However I do make a note of the fact that Carrie didn't actually answer my question. "So anyway why don't you come down to HQ now, we've still got loads of lunch left." Carrie finally finishes.

I look to Oscar for guidance, unsure whether I'm really wanted in HQ or whether I'll just be in the way; from the way he dashed off I thought they were in the middle of some big mission. Oscar however still isn't making eye contact; I don't know what's got in to him. Well if he didn't want me to go he's had plenty of time to say something. I make my decision, stand up and reply "Yeah that'd be great, so where is HQ exactly?"

Carrie taps her nose and says "Ah you'll just have to wait and see, anyway I can't tell you in broad daylight, there could be enemy spies about" she laughs and begins to walk back towards school. Even though I know she's joking I can't help but glance over my shoulder as I follow her across the tarmac. Rose catches up to walk at my side and speaks just quietly enough that Carrie can't hear, "Sorry about that, she gets a bit ... excitable" I smile knowingly. Oscar's slouching along behind us, his distinct lack of enthusiasm prompts me to question Rose. "Is everything OK, you know with the agency and everything?"

Rose pauses before replying, "Err yeah, sort of, yeah they're fine". The response hardly reassures me, another avoided answer, but we continue waling in silence. Forgetting my worries for a moment I give in to the excitement of finally finding out where HQ is. I'd considered following Oscar once, but didn't want to betray his trust. So when we stop outside a caretaker's closet I can't say I'm not a little disappointed, visions of the four of them discussing national security cramped up in a cupboard weren't exactly what I expected. The girls have noticed the disappointment in my face, and both find it highly amusing, even Oscar's smirking slightly. Things get a little more interesting when rose slides the cover off the light switch to reveal what looks to be a thumb scanner, I'm proved correct when she places her thumb on the pad and a small green light flashes. I'm ushered into the cupboard, and quickly joined by the other three. Door closed I begin to look around for another door, when Oscar reaches out and grabs a broom handle. I'm contemplating just what spurred Oscar's sudden desire to sweep, and whether the broom is actually some super high-tech gadget, when the floor gives out beneath me. Trying not to scream, I battle to see through the sheet of hair that has been blown into my face, and am surprised to find that no-one looks particularly bothered about us hurtling to our deaths. As we come to a stop, and I hear the familiar sound of an elevator ping, the doors slide open and my rational thinking kicks in, the cupboard is a lift and we've just been transported several thousand metres below ground – cool. Steadying myself I turn to find my three companions all look rather different. Their school uniforms have been replaced by black outfits. Rose has lost her glasses, but as she's not squinting I'm guessing they've been replaced by contacts; and Oscar with straight hair – well it's certainly different. Speaking of Oscar, his mood seems to have lightened as he watches me take in my surroundings with a small smile on his face. I'm standing in a sort of underground bunker, eerily lit with neon blue lights. Straight in front of me there's three large computer screens, and off to the left there's a passageway leading to I guess more rooms and to the right a sort of mini laboratory. Before I get a better look round, the caretaker, looking much smarter than usual in a t-shirt and suit walks over and introduces himself.

"Ah Miss Fenton how nice to finally meet you properly," he extends a hand which I shake, "I'm Frank London, Oscar, Carrie and Rose's boss" He shrugs off the word 'boss' as if he dislikes accepting a role of superiority. I had expected this, Oscar was always going on about the stupid things Frank does, and he sounded much more part of the team than a dictatorial leader.

"Nice to meet you to" I reply feeling a little awkward at the formality of the situation.

"Take a seat Mia" he gestures to the plastic swivel chairs; I sit down on one, followed by Carrie, Oscar and Rose. I can't help but imagine the numerous mission briefings the agents must have received, and get a nervous feeling of excitement in the pit of my stomach at being allowed into this secret world. When I look back at Frank he looks lot more grim, "Now I'm sure you've been briefed on the situation, it's pretty dire I –" Franks stops as he catches site of Carrie guiltily biting her lip, and registers the look of utter bewilderment on my face.

"So you haven't been told anything about the situation, Carrie, Rose, Oscar?" he turns to each of them in turn with a questioning look on his face. Carrie answers, "Err, no, I was, um, worried about how secure the school was, I thought it best to explain it all down here, you know, just in case." Her eyes tell a very different story, and I get the feeling the school was perfectly secure and Carrie just hadn't wanted to be the bearer of bad news, or maybe she wanted to get me down here before freaking me out with whatever the 'situation' was.

"Oh, well then, I think we'd better get you filled in then, hadn't we." And though my head was full of questions and I was still worried about the fact that Oscar had gone back to taking a great interest in the floor, I almost didn't want to know what Frank had to tell me. Almost didn't want to know, but not quite.


	5. Chapter 5 Realisation hits

**Another day, another chapter, what else am I suposed to do at half-term, apart from revise, catch up on coursework, go out in daylight ... Ah well, this is much more fun. Nothing to say really, a double POV chapter, but I'm sure you've got that. I'll try to write more over the next few days, but we've got family coming to stay, and then it's back to school, so it could be a while. As ever, please R&R.  
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**El x **

**P.S OK, so it's starting to get a little mushy, but everyone needs a little romance, and there's plenty more to come. *smiles wickedly*  
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As Frank fills me in on the notorious Calvino De Luca, I decide that this is one guy I don't want to meet, but am still struggling to understand where exactly I fit into all this. Frank picks up on my prolonged confusion, as he quickly finishes his briefing, and says, "So how do you come in to all of this?" taking this to be a rhetorical question, I let Frank continue, "Well, as I explained De Luca has his hands on the complete agent files for the entire organisation, as a result, infiltration by an agent is impossible. However if someone from _outside_ the agency was to go into the De Luca manor, undercover as, say, De Luca's daughter, we would be able to move undetected."

The way Frank leaves this last sentence hanging, there's no doubt in my mind that he's asking me to do it. MI9 are asking me to go into the De Luca manor, pretending to be his daughter, to recover the stolen files. My mind boggles, and I feel my pulse slowly rise as I process this information. De Luca is a killer; practically a psychopath and they want _me_ to deceive him. I turn to see Carrie and Rose's expectant faces and the severity of the situation hits, if the MI9 are considering sending a civilian in the situation must be pretty bad. They're pinning their only hopes on me; I can't get my head around it.

Before I get a chance to consider the request, Oscar speaks for the first time, "You don't have to do it, we can find someone else." The concern in his eyes explains the previous lack of enthusiasm on his behalf. I guess he found it difficult for them to even bring me down here, knowing what they were going to ask me, and the silence was just him restraining himself. It's as I watch Oscar that I make up my mind, as I think he knew I would; I will do anything to make sure he doesn't lose the agency, I don't think he realises how much he needs this place, he doesn't see the spark in his eyes when he's called to HQ, but I do, and I will not be the one to rob him of it.

I face him square on, look him directly in the eyes and, trying my best to conceal the fear in my voice, reply, "I'll do it".

Oscar doesn't look shocked, as if he'd resigned to this outcome a while ago, now he just looks focused, and the determination in his eyes is all it takes to reassure me that I'll be safe. With the hard decision made the tense atmosphere that I'd failed to register before disappears. I swivel to face Frank, and ask, with an almost smile on my face, "So what's the plan?"

~*~

She's agreed to the mission, like I always knew she would; stupid Mia, too damn self-sacrificial for her own good. But I'm not going to try and convince her otherwise, I don't want to lose her trust at a time like this. The smile she gives me as she asks "So what's the plan?" is infectious; I push aside my worries and fears, and lose myself in the excitement of a mission. This is what I do best, undercover infiltration. Already my mind is buzzing with the possible issues and the best ways to solve them. I knuckle down and listen to Frank as he starts to brief us on what we have to do.

"Right, well, in order to convince De Luca that Mia is his daughter we're going to have to get her looking and acting like Sofia. Appearance isn't such a big issue," he turns to Mia, "Sofia is rather fond of the cosmetic knife, so we can put the difference in your face shape down to a matter of style, we'll do some research and find a cosmetic surgeon in Tuscany, where Sofia's apparently been on a school trip, so you'll have genuine information to feed to De Luca" turning back to the rest of us he goes through a list of other appearance issues, "Hair can easily be dyed, Sofia's is a chestnut brown. We might have to cut Mia's; I don't think De Luca will believe her hair has grown that much." Frank leans forward and cups Mia's chin, tilting her head towards the light. Its strange how even this small movement sets me on edge, my protectiveness kicks in and I'm ready to hit Frank if he hurts her. Man, I need to chill, when you're suspecting your own colleagues you know you're getting overprotective. "Mmm, blue eyes, they'll have to be corrected with contacts." Frank muses.

"What about height?" Rose asks.

"Actually I think we're pretty lucky in that department, as far as I can remember from the details sent through from base, Sofia is about 5'2'', and you're, what 5'3''?" Franks has turned to Mia again.

"Yeah about, I don't think De Luca's gonna notice a difference like that, he'll probably put it down to a growth spurt." Mia's thinking like a spy now, and I can't help but let myself wonder whether there'd be a more permanent place for her on the team after this mission. I stop myself; let's get her through this in one piece before I start planning to put her in danger again.

"And there's no other noticeable signs, birthmarks, scars, anything a father would notice?" In response to Carrie's question Frank turns to the computer and brings up the file sent through from base control. After scanning it he replies,

"Nope. This girl's so image conscious even if she did have anything like that, she'd have had it surgically removed years ago. Just sixteen and already she's had three major procedures as well as several minor ones." Frank shakes his head sadly, and I have to agree, I just cannot get why someone would have that much surgery for no reason. I'm a little worried though, is Mia's natural look going to give her away? I voice my concerns, but Frank doesn't seem worried, "Sofia De Luca has had the best cosmetic surgeons, the alterations all look completely natural, luckily we're not talking about a 50 something plastic doll here, all it will look like is that Sofia has had a few minor face surgeries."

I watch as Mia nervously puts her hand to her face, I want to reassure her that she's beautiful, but as usual I'm too much of a coward to tell her how I really feel.

Rose isn't finished scrutinising the appearance yet, "What about any birthmarks or stuff Mia has, they'd give the game away too."

"Ah yes, now I had thought about this one. In order for us to get Sofia's Italian colouring, plus any tan she'll have got after a few weeks in Tuscany, we're going to have to use a pretty heavy spray tan on Mia, this should cover any tell-tale marks."

I hadn't even realised that rose had been typing this all out, trust her to get us organised, but it's good that she'll make sure we don't miss anything out. "OK, so we've covered appearance, now what about characteristics?" Rose doesn't even bother turning from the computer screen as she addresses us.

"Actually, with a bit of work form Mia and Oscar, that shouldn't be too hard to solve either. As we speak MI9 agents are getting Sofia to give them a detailed record of everything there is to know about her life. It's all been recorded so we'll be able to study her body language and accent. Oscar I was thinking you could coach Mia on her accent, Sofia doesn't have a particularly pronounced Italian accent, having boarded in a British school for the past ten years, but you're also going to have to help Mia learn all the day to day stuff, like nick names, food dislikes and where everything is in the manor."

"A British public school and Italian mix, should be interesting." I grin, I love a challenging accent, and an excuse to spend more time with Mia, well, I'd never say no to that.

"Hang on, you all seem to be missing something," Carrie seems concerned, "how do we know that Sofia's telling the truth? It's really going to muck things up if Mia walks into a broom cupboard thinking it's her bedroom."

"Quite right Carrie, however Sofia is wired up to our finest lie detector. We're 99.9999% certain what she says is the truth. She's been very willing to talk actually, the threat of a possible jail sentence for conspiracy soon made her forget any family ties."

"So much for blood being thicker than water."

"Well the De Luca's hardly have a trusting family history, it's rumoured that Calvino's older brothers, Guido and Michel both hired hit men to assassinate each other, all to increase their slice of the family fortune. And Calvino's father, Fabian pushed his pregnant sister, Rosita down the stairs, in attempt to abort her unborn son, as he didn't want the competition of another male heir."

"What a lovely family" is all Carrie replies, and I've got to agree, I thought it was only in Shakespeare's plays that you'd find crazy Italians trying to bump each other off in order to get their hands on a fortune. The ruthlessness of the family hardly serves to reassure me that Mia will be safe, but I push aside the fear and try to pull the conversation back on track, "So is there anything else that needs covering?"

"Err," Frank checks things off a list in his head on his fingers before continuing, "no, that's about it, we're planning to send Mia in, in about three weeks time, longer if we need it, but we've got to keep the length of the school trip plausible. I'll pass on the transcripts from Sofia's conversations tomorrow, so you can start studying them. Come to HQ at lunch and we'll begin looking at the videos to work on her body language. As for Carrie and Rose, I need you to find out as much about the De Luca manor as possible, we can't even risk sending you in as cleaning staff, so it'll have to be outside info only, but you need to see what you can do as far as hacking into the security network is concerned. Now off you go, the bell's just gone."

As we walk to the lift doors I take Mia's hand, she looks up at me, a smile on her face and trust in her eyes; I smile back, more resolved than ever to do everything in my power to keep her safe.


	6. Chapter 6 Mush

**I warned you. Serious cliché mush coming up – I'm sorry, it's just been Valentine's Day, things will improve, but this is actually pretty important to the storyline. *taps nose annoyingly* May update tomorrow, may resign to revision, you never know.**

**El x

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"This bit here, see, the way she scrapes back her hair, she's constantly doing it, it's the little things like this that De Luca will pick up on" Oscar rewinds the tape and freezes it as Sofia De Luca moves her hand to push her hair out of her face. He's lying on his stomach on my bed, scanning through the interview tapes on a portable TV. The portable TV was given to me by MI9, pretty generous of them; Oscar insisted that it was necessary for me to be able study Sofia whenever I wanted in the privacy of my own room. My mum thinks I won it in a school raffle. I sit on the floor, back against the end of my bed, hugging my knees. "Oscar, seriously if I see Sofia De Luca push her hair or pout her lips one more time I'm going to scream, I need a break"

Oscar grins at me, I know he's secretly enjoying torturing me with hours of body language study, followed by either work on my Italian public school accent or quizzing me on everything there is to know about Sofia De Luca.

"Fine, fine, but after that we need to work on your accent" I don't try to conceal my groan. This has been going on for a week, I spend my whole lunch in HQ, and then either go round to the care home to work with Oscar there, or he comes round here. I've been spending so much time with him, not that I'm complaining, but I'm getting a lot of stick from my parents and sister about it. If Lily does that immature kissing her arm thing when Oscar turns his back one more time I swear I will not be to blame for my actions. I push myself up from the floor intending to go and raid the kitchen for food, but stop as Oscar calls me back.

"Mia," a pause, "are you scared?" I know what he's talking about immediately, the subject hasn't left my mind for a week. His question doesn't surprise me, I know he's beating himself up about the danger I'm going into. I consider making light of it, but decide to answer truthfully, "Yes, petrified."

He sits on my bed, looks at me, then bows his head as he murmurs, "Do you hate me, for putting you through this?"

This question takes me back; it had never crossed my mind. I don't blame Oscar for this, I'm thankful that I can do something to help him. Yes I'm petrified, so much so that I lay awake at night picturing about what would happen if I got found out. But every time I start to lose a grip, let the fear suffocate me, it's Oscar and his stupid dozy smile that pulls me back. "What, no, no of course not" is all I can reply. I walk over to my bed, sit opposite him with crossed legs, stare into his wide brown eyes and almost whisper, "I could never hate you."

He leans forward slightly so his forehead is resting against mine. My heart goes crazy, unable to decide whether to slow down at the calmness that I feel just being this close to him, or to beat faster at the fact that I'm this close to him. I close my eyes, just taking in the slight difference in temperature between his skin and mine, the slight heat of his breath on my face, the sligh-

"Mia, I need a hand unpacking the bags!" My mum calls from downstairs. I leap of the bed and hurtle out of my room. Crap! Of all the moments for my mum's stupid clichéd bad timing. Urgh now I have to go back up to my room and face the awkwardness of seeing Oscar again. Oh well, it's not like I won't have another chance to be alone with him, not at the rate my accent's improving.


	7. Chapter 7 Studying the life of Sofia

**More writing. Woo. Nothing else to say.**

**El x**

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"OK, tell me about yourself."

"Err well she's-"I stop as Oscar gives me a stern look, "fine_, I'm _about 5'3'', Italian, brown hair, brown eyes. I go to Cheltenham ladies' college. I love lacrosse, fashion and style – actually those two are the same really" I let out an overly fake giggle, glare at Oscar and continue, "I would describe myself as flirtatious, good-looking," I sigh exasperatedly and, dropping my accent, finish "a bit of a slut."

Oscar laughs, but I defend myself, "No seriously, I mean, have you seen the length of her skirts!"

"Yes alright grandmother, can we get back to the job in hand?"

I scowl; I don't want Oscar to think I'm a prude, but I'm a little worried about having to dress like Sofia, I'm going to be constantly tugging at my skirt, and I'm guessing that if Sofia comes back with some form of morals it might just give the game away. The four of us are lounging in HQ, Oscar and I are still studying the life of Sofia, Carrie is checking out some blueprints of the De Luca Manor and interviews with former staff, and Rose is trying to hack into the security system.

"So, do you have any pet names for members of your family?"

"Well," I remember to do a Sofia-hair-scrape, and Oscar smiles, "I call my Dad, babbo, it's a term they use in Tuscany. I don't talk about my Mother; babbo get's a little...tetchy around that subject. The only other really permanent member of the household; we go through house staff quite quickly; is Frederico, our Butler, who came from Tuscany with us. I call him Freddy, he loathes it and I do so love to wind him up."

"Good, good, what about your influences, who do you look up to?"

I'm just about to reply another text book answer when we're interrupted by a cry of "Yes!" from Rose. I turn round to see her doing a little victory dance as she chants "I'm a genius, oh yeah, who's a genius, I'm genius". Upon seeing us watching her she freezes, arms mid-wave, slowly lowers them and scrunching up her nose says, "Yeah, well, I'm really good". Pushing herself away from the computer desk to reveal her computer screen she lets out a cry of "Ta-da!" and waves her hands at the screen. On it, about sixteen black and white squares show us exactly what is going on everywhere in the manor.

"Awesome, you managed to hack into the CCTV", I've got to admit, I'm impressed.

"Told, you I was good" Rose is clearly enjoying her moment of success, "Here we have De Luca's extensive security camera system. There's about 260 cameras in all, this is just a few, I can pick and choose anyone I like," she demonstrates, choosing a shot of a security guard having a surreptitious cigarette, "Calvino is seriously paranoid about security, but he doesn't seem that interested in sound, just seeing what everyone's doing. I'd guess that he has a lip-reader on hand if he gets really curious. The whole system centres around a nerve centre, the only place in the house not covered by cameras, security there is ten times tighter. Even once you're in the house, to get into this room you have to pass a voice pattern scan, quoting your full name I think, punch in a pin that is changed hourly and swipe one of just four unique smart cards."

Oscar lets out a low whistle, but I'm already working out whether I could get in. Voice recognition - we could just take a recording of Sofia and I could play it back; pin – Sofia probably gets informed as it changes, so no issue there and smart card- well I'm guessing Sofia has one of those too. While I've been mentally braking into the nerve centre, Carrie's pulled up more info on it.

"Yeah, the nerve centre, I came across that." Carrie takes over, "In 2006 De Luca ordered massive construction work to reinforce the outer walls of the manor; already five meters high and made of solid steel; he backs that up with diamond" she pauses for effect. I'm a little stunned, diamond, man, this guy is seriously loaded! "Anyway, at the same time he had this room in the centre of the manor reinforced too, he now uses it as a safe/ control room, and spends most of his time there. The room is completely sound proof, blocks all signals and light, but only when all four layers of the door are shut. De Luca never closes all the layers; he doesn't like to be cut off from the rest of the house. "

Oscar's already worked this information into our plan, "So when Mia goes to De Luca, asking him if she can go meet her friends in town, she's probably going to have to get in the nerve centre to speak to him. Should be simple enough, I'll contact base control and ask then for the necessary stuff from Sofia."

I look at Rose who looks deep in thought as she reads through more of a security report on the manor, she thinks out loud, "It says here, that De Luca has a 'lockdown' system, which he operates remotely from the nerve centre by radioing a guard, the station is manned 24-7 with the men taking shifts of two hours. If De Luca gets suspicious and orders a lockdown while Mia is still in the house, there's no way she's getting out." This freaks me out a little and I wonder why Rose is telling us this, but I realise she hasn't finished, "If I could remotely close the fourth door of the nerve centre then De Luca would be completely cut off, and unable to order a lock down. I don't think we'd have to worry about any of the guards having the initiative to order it themselves as it says here that De Luca purposefully hires guards with an IQ of less than 65, apparently he doesn't want them to be able to think for themselves, just uses them as muscle. Being able to seal De Luca off would be a really good back up plan, just in case anything goes wrong."

Oscar looks enthusiastic, "Yeah, that'd be brilliant, what would you need to do it, is it possible?"

"Not remotely, but I'm thinking if I can get Mia to implant some sort of hacking device, I might just be able to take control. I don't know, leave it with me and I'll see what I can do." Rose ends the discussion by turning back to her computer and beginning to type frantically.

Carrie continues to trawl through the interviews and Oscar and I go back to working through everything I've got to know. For the first time I'm actually beginning to get excited about the mission.


	8. Chapter 8 Gadgets

**Woo. Gadgets. More action coming soon. I think Mia will be going into 'De Luca's den' in the next chapter, which I'll try and write soon. Hope you enjoy, please R&R. **

**El x

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It's Thursday lunch, and we're back in HQ again, I feel kind of bad for robbing Mia of her free time, but she doesn't seem that fussed. I can't believe that in just a few days Mia's going in, she's already had her hair cut and dyed, I think I prefer her blonde, and she's not going to get tanned until the day before. According to her parents Mia's going for a two day trip to Stratford upon Avon, to study Shakespeare. They didn't need much convincing, just me dropping into the conversation that I was going too, and the story seems legit. Frank's called us in to show us the gadgets he got from base, he sounded pretty excited, raving about us 'getting the best'."

"Right, well, first a gift to Mia our brilliant honorary spy," this surprises me, I didn't think the agency were into gifts and she hasn't even done the mission yet. Frank pulls from his pocket a small jewellery box and opens it to reveal a pair of diamond earrings, he offers them to Mia, who looks pretty taken aback, but, as I notice the sly grin on his face, I guess these aren't ordinary earrings.

"So what do they do?" I'm impatient in my curiosity.

"Well spotted Oscar, yes, I wasn't quite being completely honest when I said a gift, you're welcome to keep them, but I'm not sure you're friends will appreciate being spied on. These are actually the latest development in hidden cameras, each diamond is a lens, that will track you're every movement. If you wear these, Oscar, Rose, Carrie and I will be able to see things through your eyes, or rather your ears, as well as track you on the CCTV."

"Cool, I can't believe you can get a camera this small" Mia is mucking about inspecting the earrings and is surprised as a close up of her face appears on-screen.

"Good picture quality," comments Rose, "and it'll be good to have a bit of colour, why De Luca insists on having black and white CCTV I'll never understand."

"Next" Franks says as he claps his hands together, "Now we can see, we'd also like to hear, and that's where these babies come in." He extracts from another pocket a small sheet of paper which at first appears to have nothing on it, but as he moves it into the light I see several tiny clear dots. "Adhesive audio surveillance dots. Each dot will pick up and transmit any sound within a three metre radius, both ways. It works by physically vibrating your ear, so it's practically undetectable. Again, wear one of these on the inside of your ear, and we'll be able to hear what's going on around you as well as send messages to you from HQ. And, in case of discovery, simply clearly say 'disintegrate' and the device will go into self destruct, melting to nothing more than a small amount of clear liquid. "

There's a general murmur of appreciation as we pass the dots between us.

"So we've got you covered for surveillance, now we'll we give you a method of defence," he looks pointedly at me, "just in case." He turns to Mia "I know Carrie has been giving you a few basic karate lessons, but with muscle guys like these you need some way of disabling them." Frank pulls out a hairbrush and I can't stop myself from laughing, although I'm guessing, I'm hoping, it's a bit more than a hairbrush; the image of Mia fending off De Luca's thugs with a hairbrush is pretty funny. "No, I don't expect her to throw this at them, it's actually a highly sophisticated taser, quick call back, you can hit 20 thugs a minute." I have a new respect for the hairbrush, anything that'll keep Mia safe.

"Now, this next one is pretty new, but the guys showed me it and I thought it would be perfect. You know how we intended to have you hacking into the computer, locating the files and planting the virus, through Rose instructing you. Well now, Rose can do it herself." Franks extracts yet another gadget from yet another pocket and hands it to Rose, "If Mia attaches these pads to her fingers," I lean over to get a glimpse of the said pads, which look like contact lenses, "Then you will be able to wirelessly control her fingers. All Mia has to do is line her fingers up on the keyboard, then you type out the code and her fingers copy, genius!" Rose is looking pleased, having all the hacking stuff back in her control is how she likes it.

"And finally," Frank continues to address Rose, "you asked for some kind of hacker, will this do?"

He brings out what appears to be a playing dice. "All Mia has to do is secure this, it's magnetic, to a part of the door system and you'll be able to take control of it. And though it looks like a dice now, that's just in case it's discovered in her bag, it will change to match the colour of the surface it's placed on exactly." Rose examines it, questions Frank on some technical details and then nods, "Yup, this should work fine."

Yet another way to keep Mia out of harm, Frank's doing pretty well. I appreciate the effort, but I'm still not content. While the girls pour over the gadgets, I walk up to Frank.

"I need to be near her Frank, not undercover, just out of sight. I need to be close if anything goes wrong."

Frank doesn't look surprised, I guess my initial rejection of the plan had warned him that Mia's safety is my number one priority, "OK, I'll grant you permission to walk the grounds. You won't get past the walls, so you're going to have to make do with staying outside them. If something goes really wrong, then you might be able to slip in through the main gate. But Oscar, if you get into trouble, I can't jeopardise this mission to help you. You're going in without back-up, are you sure you're willing to take the risk?"

All it takes is a glance at the smiling Mia and my answer is affirmed, "Yes."

"Very well, you'll have your usual toolkit, as well as an earpiece like the one I'm giving to Mia. Just be careful, I know Rose said De Luca's thugs were ... just thugs, but I wouldn't underestimate them or De Luca."

Glad that I'll be able to stay close to Mia, I rejoin the girls to wind up Mia with more work on her accent. She's got to be prepared, and it's hilarious to watch her squirm.


	9. Chapter 9 Goodbyes

**Just another short chapter, I keep underestimating how long things will take, so it could be another couple of chapters before she actually gets to the manor. :) Sorry it's lots of big chunks of writing, there's no dialogue to break it up. Will write more soon, as ever please R&R.  
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**El x

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To say I'm not nervous would be lying. To say I'm not scared would be lying. In fact to say I'm not petrified would be lying, yet, I manage to keep my smile set and my hands steady. For any onlookers it would be a pretty bizarre sight, four people hanging around in a school car park on a Saturday morning, all of them looking slightly subdued, a taxi waits for one of them to get in. Mum had dropped me here earlier this morning. I was a little worried she might suss something when there was only Oscar, Rose and Carrie, plus our caretaker there waiting, but she'd accepted my mumbled groans of "Mum, you are not waiting, it's embarrassing", kissed me on the forehead and driven off. That was the only time I almost lost it, letting my mum drive off with no greater goodbye than a quick peck on the forehead, when I can't be certain I'll ever see her again. As I'd fought back the lump in my throat Oscar had walked over and taken my hand. That was all it had taken to banish my melodramatics.

Now, after fifteen final minutes of checking through every detail of the plan, it's time to go. I make to shake Frank's hand, but he pulls me into an awkward hug, whispering "We'll be right with you". Carrie's more hyperactive than usual, which I put down to nerves, but she squeezes me tight and says, "Good luck". Rose smiles as it's her turn for the motivational last words and a hug, squeezing me almost as tightly as Carrie, she simply says, "you don't need luck". Finally Oscar steps forward from where he's been lurking in the background, he embraces me and I lean my head on his chest, "I'll be right outside, literally, and this evening when it's all over, I'm taking you to the nicest restaurant in town and we are going on a date" he murmurs into my hair. He speaks low enough that no-one else can hear, so I don't feel embarrassed, just momentarily blissful as he finally voices his feelings and confirms what I've always hoped. He kisses the top of my head, which I decide not to count as a first kiss, and then opens the door of the taxi, in the most gentleman-like manner. I climb in and settle myself on the seat, busying myself in doing up my seatbelt as the lump in my throat threatens again. Oscar pushes the car door shut and I wave to them all as we pull away from the school.

Safely away from everyone I let the tears flow. I'm not really sure why I'm crying; maybe it's something to do with how final this all feels. At least if I get it all out now I'll be able to keep my emotions completely in check when I get to the manor. I've got to keep reminding myself that everything's going to be OK, I mean I've got to get through this, I've got a date with Oscar!

Outburst over, I pull a compact mirror out of Sofia's brown leather handbag, and begin to re-apply my mascara. The face that looks back at me is very different to my own, tanned with an olive undertone my new skin colour matches perfectly the chestnut brown of my hair and eyes. A whole crack team of agency beauticians – no joke, they actually exist, though prefer to be referred to as part of the disguise unit – have completely changed my look, all in the space of about an hour this morning, down in HQ. My bitten nails have been transformed into perfectly manicured talons; I've had my eyebrows plucked, legs waxed and a full pedicure. My increasing amounts of discomfort just made Carrie and Rose laugh, Frank and Oscar left the room out of courtesy. I'm still getting used to the colour change contacts, and have to stop myself blinking constantly. Now as I sit in my Ralph Lauren shirt, ultra short denim mini skirt and high wedged sandals I can't comprehend why anybody would put them self through all this hassle. Sure I like to look good, but spending that much time and effort on how I look, gah, it's just vain and sad.

"We're dead grateful, for what you're doing you know, it not just your Oscar that needs the agency, we all do." These soft words spoken with a slight Lancashire accent come from the driver's seat. If the man driving the taxi was really a taxi driver, the sentence would seem odd, but as he is actually another MI9 agent charged with the task of escorting me to the airport, the words are only comforting. The way he says 'your Oscar' sends warmth spreading through my veins, that quells the icy grip of fear. "Thank you." is all I reply before putting in my headphones and sitting back in my seat. Sofia's voice comes through the earphones and I focus myself on making sure my accent and knowledge are perfect.


	10. Chapter 10 Cars, mostly

**Another short chapter. Hope you can understand it, I'm no good at airport lingo! Enjoy and please R&R.**

**El x**

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After some time we pull into the airport car park. Though I've been through this part of the plan loads of times, I'm still a little worried. Agent Reed opens my door, and, after hastily stuffing the iPod touch into Sofia's – my handbag, I climb out of the car. I shiver, though the weather is fine, I'd hardly call my outfit appropriate. I pull on a cardigan – more designer labels – and walk round to collect Sofia's luggage. I can't believe that one girl can need three suitcases for a three week holiday, but that's what I'm faced with. Reed has stacked them on a trolley for me, but just in case anyone sees me, I have to push it. Pulling my large sunglasses over my eyes, which seems ridiculous to me, but Frank doesn't want anyone I know to recognise me, I follow Reed into the airport. He walks quickly, and I have to half run to keep up, but the constant distraction of dodging grumpy businessmen and harassed mothers actually helps to settle my nerves. Finally we get to terminal 8, where the Tuscany flight has just come in. I begin to worry again, fretting that the airport security are never going to let me through just because a man waves a little card at them, but they do. Before I leave agent Reed shakes my hand, and ruffles my hair. The second, not, as it would appear in an affectionate manner, but instead an attempt to recreate the look of a three hour flight victim. Slipping through the barrier, I'm aware of the eyes of the airport staff on me, they obviously haven't been filled in on what I'm doing. I join a crowded room of people as they search desperately for their bags. Composing myself I check through all the details, and am just about to leave when, _"Good luck" _is whispered in my ear, by, I think, Carrie. I almost jump out of my skin, I'd forgotten all about the bug in my ear. "Thanks" I mutter in return, and leave the luggage collection to meet Frederico.

As I emerge I begin searching for the face, trying to find a match with the photograph I had seen a few hours earlier, in the sea of faces. As I search so do Carrie, Rose and Frank, and they spot him first, _"There, by that column on your right_" I've seen him, and, taking a final steadying breath I begin to walk over. I push my glasses to the top of my head, making eye contact but make no effort to run towards him. All around me couples and families embrace, enjoying their moment of reunion. I on the other hand take my time, swinging my hips; I even reach into my bag to check a non-existent text. As I finally arrive next to him I don't even bother to look up at him, drawling in a bored voice, "Ciao Freddy".

"Miss De Luca, I trust you had a pleasant flight" he finishes with a weird sort of head bob and takes my luggage from me.

I sigh "As good as possible on these cheap airlines the school insist on using, I still don't see why babbo wouldn't let me fly private, do you know an imbecile hostess almost split my drink on me, I'm considering suing." Hoping I haven't laid on the brattiness too thick and remembered to pronounce my 'H' in just the right way, I follow the De Luca's butler through the airport.

In the airport car park once again, just five minutes after I'd left one car I climb into the backseat of another; this one, however, slightly more expensive than the first. A stately Rolls Royce, it commands the attention of everyone passing, and had this been any other situation I might have enjoyed the envious looks I'm getting. Today I clamber into the depths of the car as quickly as possible, pour myself a drink of water from the fridge, and relax into the plush leather of the seats. Before Federico starts the car I snap, "Do not bother me with pathetic attempts to make mundane conversation, I need my rest". Finally I put the headphones back in my, ears, this time not bothering to turn on the iPod, and do a few yoga breaths that Sofia is very fond of. _"Good job, - I liked the crack about suing the hostess, very in character"_ I smile inwardly as Carrie interrupts Frank, careful to keep the emotion away from my face. Frank asks if I'd like him to go through the plan once more, and looking down in my lap as I signal yes, I assume he's seen it on the camera as he begins to reel off a list of steps. I stare out of the tinted window as we speed through the English countryside, ever aware that I'm being carried further and further way from the ones I love and closer to De Luca's lair.


	11. Chapter 11 Voices in my head

**A long chapter, not much dialogue, so again apologies for big blocks of writing. Sorry this took a while to do, I'll try and be quicker with the rest. A cliffhanger at the end - mwa ha ha! Thanks to all my reviewers, more are always welcome. :)  
**

**El x**

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I wake to a persistent coughing. Keeping my eyes closed I sit for a moment, trying to recall what I'm doing, it doesn't take long. I open my eyes and am confronted with the looming face of Frederico, the coughing obviously his attempt at waking me subtly. I'm pretty surprised that I managed to sleep, I was sure that the raving butterflies in my stomach would never let me rest, but apparently the stress had worn me out. I glare at the butler, before rolling my eyes and sneering, "Yes Freddy very nicely done, I'm awake," and then, just for good measure, I continue, "Ugh how could you let me sleep in such an ungainly manor. My hair's an utter mess and my shirt's all creased."

"Sorry Miss De Luca, I assumed you meant to sleep when you said you needed your rest."

"You are not paid to assume Freddy!" and with that I flounce out of the car, assuring I take my bag and cringing with horror at the person I imitate.

Though I walk away from the car with the confidence of an over-indulged teenager, inside I am quaking with fear, only too aware that I am just moments from meeting the formidable Calvino De Luca. I cast a wary glace over my shoulder to see Frederico struggling with my many suitcases, and beyond him, the looming steel walls. It's not just their great height that makes me feel suddenly very small and alone. As if they can hear my thoughts as well as my spoken words, Rose's voice breaks through my crisis of confidence _"You're doing great." _Drawing strength from her words, and the thought that Oscar is only the other side of the wall I push open the great carved doors of the manor.

I'm not overly taken aback by the beauty of the place, having poured over a picture of this hallway for hours, though the first time I saw it I was. Faced with a hallway straight from the movies, a marble floor stretches out before me, a grand staircase some distance away. For a moment I falter, unsure what I should do. Stopping myself, I concentrate on what _Sofia_ would do, and feeling more resolved am just about to stalk off to my room when a deep Italian voice calls, "Mi cara, you're home."

From the little Italian Oscar has taught me I recognise cara as a term of endearment and not De Luca forgetting his daughter's name. My musings temporarily distract me from the reality of the situation, but as the figure comes into sight I cannot ignore the fact that I am about to meet De Luca. He descends the stairs fluidly, with surprising agility for someone of his age. His dark hair is slicked back; the greying edges making him look sophisticated, but not old. He wears a pale linen shirt and beige trousers with Italian loafers. His smile is warm, showing teeth too white for my liking, but his eyes are distant, as though this whole charade is something of a bore to him. As I notice this I feel for the first time, a little sympathy for Sofia, it's the textbook case of a child paid off with presents, not love. I face De Luca with newfound resolution; I will stop him ruing anymore lives. He approaches, places his hands on my shoulders and barely kisses each of my cheeks, anyone else would expect some form of a hug from a father, but having studied Sofia's tape, this detachment comes as no surprise. I'm perfectly happy to maintain a distance between me and him, but even from here I'm hit by a wall of cologne. Not cheap scent, but unappealing all the same.

"Babbo, I've missed you" I say through a superficial smile, acting every bit the doting daughter.

"And I have missed you" he lies, then suddenly leans forward and cups my chin, tilting my head. This has been happening rather a lot lately and I'm a little sick of being manoeuvred like a doll. "You look different, what have you done?"

I'm startled by this sharp observation, not expecting him to notice it quite so quickly. I swallow the sudden fear of discovery and reply as blasé as I can, "A little surgery babbo, this is the must-have jaw line. I found a wonderful surgeon in Tuscany, Dr Moretti, I may pay him another visit, see how natural it looks." I mentally kick myself, I don't want to draw attention to my face; I hold my breath, but he releases his grasp and asks in a now very bored tone, "So you enjoyed your holiday?"

"It was ... pleasant, the shopping is nowhere near as good as Milan and the school insisted on dragging us to numerous castellos," I pause and chance a glance at him, seeing that his eyes have already drifted to the door I take my chance to leave, saying, "but I'll tell you more later, for now I am very tired and want only to freshen up in my room"

"Yes, of course" he grasps the excuse to leave, "We'll talk over dinner." And with his he walks off. As I make my way to the elevator, the stairs are really just for show, I wonder whether he realises it is only 2'oclock. Has he really just shrugged off his only daughter until the evening?

"_Well done, remember your bedroom is the third on the left"_ the helpful little voice in my head reminds me.

I enter Sofia's room, close the door behind me and lean against it, finally remembering to breathe properly. I kick off my ridiculously high heeled shoes that have been threatening to break my ankles all day, thankful that I can drop the act as Sofa's room is one of the few rooms not covered by cameras. Knowing my sanctuary won't last for long, and wanting to get out of the house as quickly as possible I get straight to work. I resist the urge to use Sofia's massive plasma TV come computer to hack in, figuring that it might be a little noticeable if anyone walked in. Instead I take the laptop and digital camera from Sofia's bag and settle myself, cross legged on the bed. I switch on the laptop, which, being the best money can buy, flashes to life instantly. The camera is just for show, a reason for going on my laptop, if anyone comes in; but I go through the motions of removing the memory card and bringing up the holiday snaps nonetheless. Then, happy that I have a solid cover story, I take out the finger pads, quickly attach them to my fingers and position them on the key board. Rose's voice comes through over the speaker, _"Right I'm just going to check that our hands are aligned before I start."_

Without warning my fingers begin to type out 'the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' a pretty disconcerting sensation.

"_How's that?"_ Rose asks as she finishes. I read it back and she seems satisfied, but I' m curious at the phrase she chose, "What's with the dog and the fox?" I ask.

"_It uses every letter in the alphabet; it's a pretty common test sentence in MI9"._ I'm embarrassed by my failure to realise this, it's just another reminder that I'm not a spy, I'm out of my depth. Rose continues, refocusing me on the task in hand,_ "Ok I'm good to go if you are." _

"Yup." I reply, conscious that I'm talking to myself. My fingers begin moving without my permission again, at least this time I'm a little more prepared, but I definitely do not like not having full control of my body. My fingers fly across the keyboard with remarkable speed, and I'm impressed yet again by the agents' skills, making a mental note to ask Oscar to teach me to type faster. I try and make sense of the code I'm typing, but the language is so complex I doubt many people would be able to understand it.

Trying to distract myself as I find myself constantly looking towards the door I ask Frank, "So, do you think I'll be able to keep the clothes, I quite like this shirt?"

Frank chuckles, answering with a reserved _"We'll see,"_ he continues, sensing my need for normal conversation, _"so, have you picked your A-levels yet?"_ I sigh at the predictability of the question, it's the fall back question for every adult when talking to a teenager, but am about to answer when Rose interrupts.

"_Finished"_ I look back at the laptop screen in front of me to find it now covered in html code. _"Could you just turn the camera so I can do a visual check?" _Responding to Rose's request I turn my head so that my earring faces the screen, and try to keep my head as still as possible. A few seconds later I hear Rose say _"perfect"_ and find my index finger moves to hit the 'enter' key.

Wanting control of my fingers back I quickly take off the pads and flex my now free fingers. "That's better" I mutter to myself, which provokes a laugh from Rose. "Right, so that's the virus sent, now is it too soon for me to get out of here?" I don't even try to hide the impatience in my voice, knowing that Frank, Carrie and Rose will want me out as soon as possible too.

Frank seems to think about it, before saying _"No, you can go now, Sofia's such a socialite that I'm sure De Luca won't be suspicious that she wants to meet with her friends to talk about her holidays, or whatever you teenage girls do. Now do you remember what you have to do when you get to the door to the nerve centre?"_

"Yes" I reply, "play recording, move my lips at the same time so they don't suspect, swipe card and type in pin, drop bracelet, plant bug, go into nerve centre, charm De Luca into letting me go out with my friends, get him to call a taxi and leave this hell hole." my summary of the plan seems to satisfy Frank as he gives me the all clear to go. Before leaving I decide to change my outfit, in a flash of brilliance I realise that Sofia would not go meet her friends in the same outfit she wore on the plane, like Oscar said "it's the little things like this that De Luca will pick up on".

I suddenly remember Oscar and think to ask how he's doing. "How's Oscar by the way? Have you heard from him?" I notice a distinct pause before Frank answers and a sudden silence from the girls, but I believe Frank when he says, _"Yeah, he's fine, just walking the wall. Why haven't you left yet?"_

I explain about my need to change my outfit, and as I head towards the wardrobe Carrie's voice, bright as ever, which banishes any doubts I have about the truth of Frank's words, comes over, saying _"Ooh I'll help you pick an outfit!" _

The wardrobe is more like a separate room, completely lined with clothes, shoes and accessories. I'm at a loss to know where to start, feeling slightly pressurised as I understand that a slip in Sofia's style might just alert De Luca. Carrie on the other hand, seems full of ideas, _"That blue dress, ooh no, the brown top and linen trousers, um, no maybe the grey cardigan with jeans and those shoes..."_

Rose joins in as I open a door to reveal yet more clothes. "_What about that navy blue striped jumper?"_ Carrie's quick to reply_, "No, it's too heavy for this time of the year."_ The banter goes on as I pick up combination after combination of tops and bottoms.

Finally Frank's exasperated, but stern call of _"Girls"_ prompts my new fashion advisors to pick out a simple white laced cami; pale grey cashmere shawl; mini skirt with knee high socks and another pair of high heeled shoes. As I change I'm careful to avoid mirrors and look straight in front of me, I'm sure Frank has turned away from the screen, but you can never be too careful getting changed with cameras in your ears. I quickly tie up my hair, setting the fringe the way Sofia would, grab my handbag, prepare myself for the last phase of the plan, and leave the bedroom.

As I walk down a corridor so similar to the first I'm sure that I've gone round in circles I'm thankful for my own personal sat nav, Frank, directing me left and right. The house is huge, decorated in a mix of traditional dark wood and modern chrome, which only just works together. With aching toes I arrive at the entrance to the nerve centre, cursing Carrie for persuading me to wear such high shoes, though I doubt I'd have found anything much more practical in the rest of Sofia's wardrobe. The door to the room is pretty inconspicuous, sandwiched between two long antique console tables. The simple look of the door, the plain dark wood and brass hinges give no clues to what lies behind it. Even the small control pad, with a number pad for the pin, slot for the smart card and a microphone for the voice recognition, is concealed behind a small, oil on canvas portrait of some De Luca ancestor. It reminds me of the entrance to HQ, and the team's effort to keep that secret.

I glance to my left and right, ensuring that there is no-one around. Scraping back my hair, I pull out my mobile to get the text that Sofia receives hourly to inform her of the pin-change, with my other hand I slide the oil painting away to reveal the control pad. I try to do all this as quickly as I can, mimicking the look of someone who has done this so many times before. As I look for the text on my phone I quote my full name. Or at least, that's what it looks like; in reality my multi-tasking isn't just for speed, but to cover the fact that I'm playing back a recording of Sofia on my phone, and mouthing the words. Of course Frank had to alter Sofia's phone ever so slightly, so that the playback would be of high enough quality to convince the microphone that it is hearing a real voice. I punch in the six digit code, and finally retrieve my smart card as I put my phone back in my handbag, deleting the voice recording with a press of a button.

Upon swiping the card the three stage process is complete and the first door slides into the wall, the brass hinges obviously just for show. The second and third doors slide open in an equally smooth fashion, with a few mechanical sounds, the fourth door is already open; De Luca can contact the outside world, for now. Before I step through the door I 'accidentally' drop the pearl bracelet that I've been fiddling with. Bending to retrieve it I shake the bug from the inside of my sleeve and attach it to the fourth door. Sliding the bracelet back on my wrist I straighten up, confident that I've done the job discreetly enough as I've had no warning from Carrie, Rose or Frank. I take a step forward and the doors shut behind me, the sudden claustrophobia of my situation hits me and I have to work to conceal my fear. I'm in a small corridor-like area, so I only have a very limited view of the nerve centre, I can see part of a huge screened wall, but, though I hear voices, can't see anyone. Taking a few steps forwards I call, keeping my voice clear and a little whiney, "Babbo, I-". I stop, Carrie's gasp, as she sees what I see, sounding where I have to fight myself to stay silent.


	12. Chapter 12 Twenty questions

**Rewind – now an Oscar POV. I've been missing my dialogue, so this chapter's full of it. As usual please R&R. Hope you enjoy, will try and update soon.**

**El x

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I watch the taxi drive away, my heart breaking; I can't believe I let her do this. Carrie's hand is in mine, just like the day I first found out about this, it's good to know she's there. All it takes is her squeezing my hand to refocus my thoughts, now is not the time to lose it. I stand up straight, let go of Carrie's hand with a reassuring smile, and say "Right well I better be off too."

Carrie nods, hugs me and says "Be safe, yeah? You getting yourself in trouble isn't going to help Mia." She's right, it almost makes me stay here, if I screw up and put Mia in danger... but if anything does go wrong and I'm stuck here I'd be totally powerless. I need to be there, purely me being selfish, but I need to be close to her.

Rose walks over and hugs me, God these girls and their sentimental goodbyes. "Keep in contact, okay? We'll pass on info from Mia so you don't have to go all off your head with worry" she rolls her eyes and grins, muttering just loud enough so I can hear, "loved up idiot."

Finally Frank walks over, to give me some last minute pep talk no doubt. "Oscar, I want you to be careful, there's more than just your girlfriend at risk here." His words are harsh, but I know he means well. He's right, I do care more about Mia than the mission, but I understand how important the mission is, otherwise I wouldn't have let her go. I nod to show I understand and he slaps me on the back, before pushing me forward towards Jed. "Off you go then."

I take a helmet form Jed's outstretched hand and put it on, then climb onto the back of the bike. Jed's a friend of mine from training, he's working with the engineer sector not far from here, and when I called him about the mission he was happy to give me a ride. As we pull out of the school car parks I give everyone a cheesy salute, before settling myself in for a long ride.

"So you really care about this Mia chick?" Jed yells above the engines.

"Looks that way doesn't it." I shout back.

"Man, who'd have thought little Ozzy would get himself all loved up, I leave you alone for 10 minutes an you're already going soft." Jed's teasing doesn't bother me. We were like brothers back in training, spending all that time together it would have been hard if we weren't. He's two years older than me, and I was gutted when he left, but we keep in contact and I occasionally get to work with him on part of a mission. Giving up any further conversation as we hit the motorway, I turn on my MP3 and begin trying to perfect my Russian; you never know when it might come in useful.

"Ozzy_, do you mind turning the Russian down, if I hear another –ski I'm gonna scream"_ Rose's sarcastic voice comes through over the transmitter in my ear. I'd forgotten I had it in, and I can understand how having to listen to my Russian may be a tad infuriating back at HQ. "Sorry" I mutter, knowing that no greater volume is needed, even with the roar of the engine. I reluctantly turn my MP3 off and try and think of a way to distract myself. It's no good, I can't stop my mind drifting to Mia, how infatuated is that? She's just this amazing person that is so right for me, and I'm scared that I'll lose her, 'cos I know there'll never be anyone else.

"_A penny for your thoughts, or should I save my cash and just guess Mia_?" Carrie's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"An insight into my mind is worth much more than a penny" I laugh, glad of the conversation. But I'm a little wary, conscious that Mia will be able to hear me through the HQ transmission. As if psychic Carrie says, _"Don't worry, Mia is sound asleep, you can be honest without having to do the whole awkward 'we both really like each other but we're not going to admit it' thing."_

"Hey, hey, less snooping around in my personal matters" I don't really mind, glad that Carrie seems to think Mia feels the same way about me as I do about her. "What's made you so talkative all of a sudden?"

"_Frank and Rose have gone to get some lunch and I'm on earpiece duty, so I've decided we're going to play twenty questions."_

"Oh are we now?" but I've already decided to agree, it'll pass the time, "OK I guess."

"_Question one, what is your name?"_

"Hmmm, that's a toughie, last time I checked my name tag it was Oscar Cole."

"_Don't get so cocky, that was just to warm up. Who do you prefer out of me and Rose?"_

"Ouch, that's harsh, you can't make me choose, I love you both."

"_Aww, well avoided. What's your favourite colour?"_

"Back to easy, white."

"_White, that's not even a colour, is it?"_

"That counts as a question, and it depends whether you're a physicist or an artist."

"_Which are you?"_

"Neither, I was just avoiding answering your question because I don't know. Oh and that counts as another question."

"_Are you really afraid of the dark?"_

I scowl, even though she can't see me, "Not afraid of the dark, more afraid that I can't see. I dunno, it's complicated, let's move on."

"_Fine, favourite comfort food?"_

"Risotto."

"_Chocolate ice-cream or strawberry?_

"Chocolate, dur."

"_Favourite band?"_

"The Who."

"_Favourite animal?"_

"Lyrebird, Carrie you know these"

"_Yeah I know I'm just checking you haven't changed your mind; do you ever feel weird that we replaced Blane and Daisy, like this is their turf and we're intruding?"_

Carrie's rapid change of topic doesn't distract me, "Yeah, loads, but I guess we've got to ignore it, I mean they've moved on."

"_S'pose, do you ever get scared on a mission?"_

"I don't really get scared for myself; I'm over that, I get scared for you and Rose, and now Mia."

"_Aww, you really are racking up the brownie points today. You shouldn't be scared about me, I'm a big girl, I can look after myself, and you know Mia can look after herself too, she's good. So, next question, and I'm only asking this 'coz I know you'd hit me if I was in the same room_," I steel myself, Carrie confessing that I would be able to hit her means this is gonna be pretty intrusive, _"how would you feel about Mia joining the agency, I've seen the way Frank looks at her, he knows she's got potential?"_

I take it better than I think she was expecting, "I really don't know. One part of me thinks it would be amazing to be able to spend so much time with her, and I'd feel better once she's been through the complete training; but another part of me can't get over the fear of losing her. I guess I cope with that with you and Rose, alright it's a different kind of care, but it's just as strong; still I don't know, my overprotectiveness might drive me insane."

"_And the rest of us, especially Mia."_ She mutters, I think of saying something but let it go as she carries on, _"Just be careful you don't screw things up by being too possessive Oscar, you need Mia, we can all see that."_

"OK, well thank you for the relationship counselling, I'll bear that in mind" I reply, only half sarcastically.

"_How far have you gone with Mia?"_

"Carrie!" I feel a blush rising in my cheeks that I'm glad she can't see.

"_Sorry, I'm just curious."_

"If you must know, we haven't even kissed" I try to keep the gloom from my voice, but I guess Carrie picks up on it because she drops the subject.

"_What do you want to do when you leave school?"_

"Well I want to go to uni, but I don't want to leave the agency. So maybe I'll ask for a less demanding position, and then after uni, I dunno, see how I feel I guess."

"_How are you so good at memorising phrases?"_

I smirk, "Naturally talented. Nah, I just say it to myself a couple of times and then I remember the way it sounds."

"_What's your favourite accent to do?"_

"Anything challenging, but French is probably my favourite, I love rolling my 'r's."

"_Yeah, you're really good at that, will you teach me?"_

"As long as you sign a contract saying you will not take out your frustration on me, I've probably still got the bruises from trying to teach you Italian."

"_Tsch, whatever, I didn't hit you that hard. Anyway, why do you like doing accents so much?"_

"Well, it's something I can do, and that's always good. But I also like the fact that I can become a whole new person, just by changing the way I speak."

"_If you were trying to impress a girl, would you put on a different accent?"_

"Are you saying my normal accent isn't very attractive?"

"_No, it's just that, well, say you wanted to come across really posh and sophisticated, to impress some rich girl, would you change your accent to appear better off?"_

"No, it's just like lying isn't it, hardly a good way to start a relationship."

"_Oscar you're so…good, Mia's lucky to have you."_

"Yeah, sure, you do realise that me and Mia aren't actually going out yet, oh and that was your last question."

"_Not going out, the way you talk about her, you're practically married."_

"Isn't it my turn to ask the questions now?" I ignore her comment.

"_Err, well, Frank and Rose are just back, and I'm dying for the loo...bye"_

"Carrie. Manipulative little…never intended to…"

"_Sorry Oscar, did you say something?"_ Frank's voice is muffled, while he continues to chew his lunch, apparently, manners don't count if you can't see the person you're talking to.

"Never mind, how's Mia?"

"_Still asleep, but she should be close by now, where are you?"_

"Just past Morton in the Marsh."

"_OK, you'll probably be there before her, stay out of sight, we don't want to risk any signs of her recognising you. I'll keep you posted."_

"Thanks, Frank" I say, signalling the end of our conversation.

Some minutes later, Jed slows the bike. We're not far from the manor, I'd asked Jed to drop me off here, so it'll look more like I'd just ended up walking round the house.

I get off the bike, having to grab it to stay steady as my legs are completely dead. I return the helmet and thank Jed again for the ride. Not one for words, Jed departs with a simple, "Good luck mate." He pulls away on his bike, doing a wheelie just to show off. I smile, typical Jed, and begin to head for the manor.


	13. Chapter 13 Steve Johnson

**Right, time for a little Steve Johnson POV. Steve by the way is one of De Luca's guards, he was kind of necessary to smooth out a few details. Hope you enjoy, I might just start the next chapter now, so it could be up pretty soon. As ever, please R&R, your reviews mean a lot to me. **

**El x

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"Lock up your sons boys, Mistress De Luca's back." The guys chuckle as I walk out of the guardroom. I'm not joking though; I wouldn't let my Luke anywhere near Calvino's daughter, that girl's trouble if ever I saw it. And De Luca's so blind, he let's her bring home visitors and then wonders what they're doing for hours at a time in her bedroom. She's a spoilt little Madame, but I can't help but feel sorry for her; like that Jeremy Kyle says, it's a classic case of a girl trying to fill the hole that a lack of love from her father creates with numerous fleeting relationships, or something like that.

"Morning Terry, how's the wife?" I take my position on the other side of the gate, relieving Reg of his duties, who dashes off for a quick ciggie and a cuppa.

"Same old, same old, wants to redo the kitchen again, silly old mare, don't know where she thinks the money for that will come from."

"They're all the same, never satisfied. Did you see the match?"

"Yeah, they want to give that Davis a right seeing to, but beautiful goal in the second half."

"Mmm. You hear about Derik?"

"Yeah, poor sod, wife and kids and now he's banged up in jail. I don't envy Paul, I don't care how much De Luca paid me, I wouldn't want to be his fall guy."

It's a well known fact that De Luca pays one of us extra to be his fall guy. All they have to do is have control of the remote that causes lock down, if De Luca radios them all they do is flip the switch that shuts the main gate, and the fourth door to the nerve centre, and then, whenever whatever danger has passed, re-open them. The unwritten part of this contract is that if the police ever get involved, sealing De Luca off is a criminal offence, withholding evidence or something, but De Luca doesn't go down for it, he just says it was the guard acting out of orders and the police can't pin anything on him. That's what Derik got done for, and a few before him, it's the risk, good money, but jail if you're caught. Paul's been approached and he's accepted the position, raving about him and the missus going on a Caribbean cruise.

"Have you seen the new camera's he's had put up?" Terry looks keen to spread the latest news.

"No, where are they?"

"On the walls, pointing out."

"What's the point of that, loads of people pass the walls, why does he need to see them?"

"Well the rumour is he's stolen a file from the secret services, listing all their agents. He's pretty paranoid about them coming to retrieve it, so he put up these cameras and he's checking every person within a couple of metres of the walls against these files, just to check they're not secret agents."

I've heard about the stolen files, but not about the new cameras. It doesn't surprise me though, everyone knows how paranoid De Luca is about security.

"I knew about the files, but I though the techies couldn't get into them."

"Apparently they made a break through a couple of days ago, they can't actually access the files, but they can run photos through them, to see if they get a match. They're not far from breaking the encryptions completely and when they do, well I wouldn't want to be an agent; they've got names, addresses, everything."

We're silent for a moment, there's a lot of violence in this business, but none of us like it, it's just life. But we all know that if De Luca has the means to track down every agent in MI9, there'll be a lot of blood shed.

Suddenly my radio crackles, "Johnson, there's a possible MI9 agent on the west wall, I want you to bring him in, I'll send you over the CCTV now. Don't mess up."

"Looks like those cameras were worth it." I remark. Glancing down at the still on my communicator screen I'm shocked by the picture I see.

"Jesus Christ."

I show the photo to Terry who lets out a low whistle before saying, "He's just a kid"

"I hope he's smart enough to talk," I sigh, "s'pose I better go get him."

I'm not happy about it, the lad looks a little like my Luke, and I thank God that it's not Luke, coz life's about to get pretty scary for this kid.


	14. Chapter 14 Crap

**I know it's been a little long in coming, bu I am taking this opportunity to excuse myself, I haven't been able to log onto to fanfiction, grrr. Anyways, here it is, next chapter. This has some serious POV swapping (it's supposed to add to the drama!) so I hope you can keep up, gotta make this a little challenging haven't I. :P I will try and write more soon, and a warning, things may get a little...more mature, but I do not want to taint the characters, I just thought the awkwardness would be quite amusing. You'll have to wait and see what I'm on about! As ever please R&R, and I hope you enjoy.**

**El x**

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I've been walking for a while now, but I'm barely halfway around the walls. I'm starting to get edgy because I don't like putting a greater distance between me and Mia, and, having walked past the only entrance, that's what I'm doing. But if I stay close to the gates De Luca will get suspicious, so I have to content myself with Carrie and Rose's updates.

"How is-"

"_Oscar, for the five hundredth time she's fine. Now will you shut up, I'm trying to write out a very complex code."_

I scuff the dirt with the toe of my shoe, she's fine, I know she's fine. I've got to keep cool; going off at Rose isn't going to help anyone.

I need something to do, if any of De Luca's guards sees me this agitated I could blow my cover. My cover is actually barely a disguise at all. I've donned a polo shirt, khaki long shorts and walking boots. My small backpack contains all my usual spy stuff, concealed of course, plus a copy of 'Birds of the British Isles'. I figure I can pass myself off as a birdwatcher if necessary, it was tempting to slick back my hair and bring binoculars, but I didn't want to overdo it.

I start to play a word game in my head. Think of a word, tree, and then think of a word in a different language beginning with the last letter of the previous word that has some kind of link, écorce, bark in French. I only manage to kill a few minutes with this distraction. Even then stopping to check in with Rose and Carrie every couple of seconds.

Suddenly I hear footsteps behind me. I immediately tense for a confrontation, and have to remind myself that this will look suspicious. I relax, and cautiously glance over my shoulder. The man behind me is obviously one of De Luca's security guards, but he doesn't seem in any hurry, so I assume he's just out for a walk. I keep my pace gentle, not wanting to give this guard any reason to suspect me. The steps quicken, but I'm not worried, the guy probably doesn't like walking behind me. I slow even more, so that he can overtake me. I realise my mistake too late as the guard sprints that last few metres and grabs my arms, pinning them tight against my back. I struggle, trying to gage the strength of the man, but he's pure muscle and has got me at a disadvantage. I stop struggling then, not wanting to give him a reason to break my arm. _"Oscar, are you OK?"_ Carrie's obviously heard the struggle, but I can't risk telling her what's happened. Instead I hiss "disintegrate". If my captor notices he doesn't say anything, just continues to frog march me back towards the main gate. Crap. All I can do is pray that Mia doesn't see me and that Carrie doesn't tell her that anything's wrong. Stupid, stupid, this was exactly what Frank told me to avoid, I should have stayed at HQ, I'm not helping Mia, just putting her in more danger.

~*~

"Frank, Oscar's made his earpiece self destruct." I don't bother to conceal the concern in my voice.

"Don't worry, he's probably just been a little bit over cautious, you know, security guard's got a little too close and he's jumped the gun and destroyed his earpiece." Frank's tone is calm, but his eyes tell a different story.

"Shouldn't we tell Mia?" I ask, lowering my voice so as not to let Mia hear, I don't think she heard what I said before.

"No, there's no need to get her worried about nothing." I know Frank's right, but I don't like lying to Mia and I'm really worried about Oscar.

I walk over to sit next to Rose at the computer and scrawl on a bit of paper so Mia can't hear, _'Oscar made his earpiece self destruct, Frank says we shouldn't tell Mia' _Rose reads the note and looks up, concern in her eyes, but she quickly pulls it together and mouths "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Just then Mia asks about Oscar, there's a pause before Frank replies, "Yeah, he's fine, just walking the wall. Why haven't you left yet?" Mia explains that she needs to change her her outfit and I'm impressed by her quick thinking. I grasp the distraction and begin to choose combinations of clothes, almost forgetting Oscar as I lose myself in the task.

~*~

I keep my head down as I'm marched through the manor, worrying that I'll run into Mia at any moment. My captor seems equally keen to hide his face, though I'm guessing for different reasons. It's almost as if he's ashamed to do this, he's definitely not unnecessarily brutal, but his grip on my arms remains firm.

Eventually we come to what I know to be the door to the nerve centre. The guard loosens his grip as he requests permission to enter, and I consider making a run for it, but as a second guard rounds the corner, I forget that plan. The second guard approaches quickly, stopping to stand behind me as the doors open. I can feel his breath on the back of my neck, and, when I steal a glance over my shoulder, I see he's not dressed like the other guards. He's just as muscled as the rest of the guards, but he looks more agile. He's clean shaven, completely bald, and has dark blue eyes. It's the eyes that get me, there's not a spark of humanity in them. With a sinking feeling I guess this guy's a specialist and it doesn't take a genius to work out what in. We enter the nerve centre, the guard now pushing me roughly forward. He swiftly sits me in a waiting chair and handcuffs my hand behind the back of it. With an almost pleading look to De Luca he is dismissed and flees from the room.

~*~

Once I've escorted the boy to De Luca I get out there as quickly as I can, trying to pretend the lad will be alright.

~*~

I keep my head bowed, not wanting to give De Luca a good look of my face. I'd snatched a look at him as we entered, seen the cold smile playing on his lips, seen the second guard roll up his sleeves in anticipation. I keep my breathing slow, trying to prepare myself for the ordeal that is to come. I just hope that Mia's either been, or this is all done before she get's here, either way I don't want to be here when she is.

De Luca starts to speak, "So MI9 have sent a child, how pathetic. I knew you wouldn't be stupid enough to try and send an agent in undercover," I keep the emotion off my face as I understand that this means De Luca doesn't suspect Mia, "so I assumed you'd try and use force. A teenage boy skulking around my walls is a little disappointing to be honest. Ah well, at least I've a few new toys to play with," I look up to see him rifling thought the contents of my bag, "and maybe if you're smart I may learn a few MI9 secrets. So let's start simple, what's your name?"

"So you're not smart enough to crack the encryption on the files you stole." I can't help myself from jeering. My words earn me a blow to side of my face and I decide to stay silent from now on.

"Silly, silly boy, you just don't realise how much Enrico here thirsts for your blood. Now tell me where your HQ is." This time it's silence that earns me a punch to my stomach, which forces my breath out of me, leaving me gasping for air.

"I'm waiting" his voice is slightly raised in impatience.

Again my refusal to respond results in a blow to my stomach. And then, with a fourth and fifth blow to my head, I begin to lose focus.

Suddenly a familiar voice brings me straight back to reality, "Babbo, I-", crap, she's seen me. I try to sit straight in the chair, concealing my wince as I jar my bruised ribs, wishing that I could at least wipe away the blood that's trickling down the side of my face. I stare into her eyes, urging her not to do anything stupid; but she's not fooled by my attempts to look OK, and it kills me to see her eyes are wide with fear.

~*~

"I knew we should have told her, look at him, look at him!" I'm screaming now, "You could have stopped that, why didn't you stop it?!" I can't get over the sight of him, just sitting there, waiting to be killed. And I'm here, miles away and I can't do anything about it. Frank's turned away from me and is desperately speaking into the mic "Mia, Mia, he's OK, don't do anything stupid" The lie is too much for me, I can't bear to see Oscar's bloodied face anymore. I turn and flee from HQ, flee from Frank, Frank who's supposed to look out for us, supposed to keep us safe. I can't handle it, can't handle losing him.

~*~

"Mia, Mia, he's OK, don't do anything stupid" I can vaguely hear Frank's panicky voice coming from my earpiece, but can't let anything other than the way Oscar looks register. He's sitting there, eye's staring, blood running down his face. That beast of a man is glaring at him, as though he's a punch bag, Oscar's blood on his knuckles. The sight almost makes me scream in fury, how dare he touch Oscar, I want to pummel him, but I'm not that stupid. Its De Luca's words that cut through my daze, it's the bored tone that ignites my rage. The way he makes it sound so normal, it sends my fury burning white hot, burning so fiercely now that I can think clearly, know what I have to do.

"Yes, I know cara," his eyes have followed my gaze, "he is young for an agent, but that's the British for you. Now what do you want, I am a little busy?"

The fire in my veins gives me confidence as I speak, and I imitate Sofia' drawl perfectly, "Well, I was going to ask to go into town to meet my friends, but now" I let my eyes wander suggestively towards Oscar, trying to ignore the panic in his eyes, "my plans may have changed." Frank's voice is desperate in my ear, "Mia, I order you stop this, you're putting yourself in danger, Oscar can get himself out of this, please Mia stop this now." Unfortunately Frank has no authority over me, so I don't even find it difficult to disobey him. "Tilt his head." I bark suddenly. The thug standing next to Oscar responds immediately, roughly pushing Oscar's chin up.

"Yes, definitely, Babbo, I want this boy for a little," I pause to emphasise the hidden meanings in my words, and pray that I've guessed Sofia's attitude correctly, "company." I finish and crossing my arms I stand defiantly.

De Luca seems to think for a while and my heart rate increases, but eventually he says, "very well, you may even get some information out of him, he seems annoyingly too patriotic to give in to Enrico" I don't let my relief show, thankful that Sofia is the slut she is. Frank's finally shut up in my ear, giving me the benefit of the doubt now that it's too late for him to intervene. De Luca gives the orders for Oscar to be released, and I watch with an air of impatience as the guard roughly pulls him from the chair and begins to march him towards the door. "Use one of the guest rooms; I want to be able to see you're safe." I barely acknowledge his request, before flouncing out of the nerve centre. Frank's started talking again, but only to direct me to one of the guest rooms. I don't make eye contact with Oscar, worried I won't be able to keep the emotion from my eyes. I've no idea what I'm going to do next, but at least I've got Oscar out of that room, and bought us a little more time.


	15. Chapter 15 Everything's fine

**Woo next chapter. I wrote this at midnight, not sure why, so apologies for blurghness. I will try and update soon, though mocks and other such stuff may prevent this. Thanks for all the reviews they are much appreciated, and now I can reply to them! **

**El x

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"That door on the left." Rose has taken over from Frank at giving me directions. I open the door, stopping to watch as the guard pushes Oscar roughly into the room. I glare at him, snapping, "Careful, you've damaged him enough!" Referring to Oscar like a possession makes me sick, but I can't let my disgust show. As the guard forces Oscar into a chair I order him to call someone to see to Oscar's cuts, finishing, "I don't want blood on the carpet."

The guard radios for a maid to bring a first aid kit, but doesn't leave, just waits by the door. A young looking woman enters the room a few minutes later; she keeps her eyes lowered as she darts across the room to Oscar where she begins to clean his cuts without making eye contact. I try to look as impassive as possible, ignoring Oscar's involuntary flinches; adding an air of impatience to my act I survey the room. As with most of the rooms in the mansion, to call it a bedroom is a bit of an understatement. It's almost as big as Sofia's room with a separate living area as well as a desk and an ensuite. The bed is pushed against one of the far walls, with a large TV on the adjacent wall. Opposite the TV there is a sofa, with chairs either side of it; one of them occupied by Oscar; and a low coffee table in front of it. As the maid finishes her job, I take a seat on the sofa. From here I notice that as the maid makes to leave she looks Oscar in the eyes, he raises his head for the first time and holds her gaze, giving her a smile of understanding. This small gesture of forgiveness makes my heart swell and seems to ease the maid's obvious guilt somewhat as she hastily leaves the room.

I don't get up from my seat, just glare over the back of the sofa and say, "You can leave too", to the waiting guard. He gives a slight nod and withdraws from the room, closing the door behind him. I relax as I'm finally alone with Oscar and make to go over to him.

"The cameras Mia" is all Rose needs to say to remind me that we may be alone, but we can still be seen, and I quickly cover my move by crossing my legs.

~*~

"Carrie?" Frank calls as he steps out of the caretaker's closet. I don't reply; just stay slumped against the wall, my head down, tears pooled at my feet.

I don't look up as I hear his footsteps approach, or when he coughs or even when he starts to talk, "He's OK Carrie, Mia got him out of there. They're in one of the guestrooms together now; we're trying to figure out how to get them out."

The relief is so great that I have to stop myself from shaking. But I can't look at him, Oscar's safe, but no thanks to him.

"Look," he's obviously caught on to my anger, "it was too dangerous to involve Mia-" he stops then starts again, "I did tell him he was going in without backup-" again the excuse falls short, "I thought he'd be OK-" The final excuse withers as it leaves his mouth and both of us know it's a lie.

"No," the sudden resolution in his voice makes me finally look up, "no those are all stupid excuses. The truth is that I made a mistake; I put the mission before Oscar. I lost it and there isn't an excuse for that, all I can say is I'm sorry."The way he looks you'd never guess he was my superior, his head is low and he looks so crestfallen. Without thinking I hug him tightly. I feel his body stiffen in surprise, before relaxing to hug me back. That was all I needed, now that Oscar's safe all I needed to know was that Frank was remorseful, that he felt bad for abandoning Oscar, and he does. I look up and see that Frank understands he's forgiven, and then remember that the mission isn't over yet. "Right, let's get back in there." As we head back to HQ I dry my damp cheeks and Frank fills me in on the situation.

~*~

"Right, while I try and figure out how we're going to get you out of there, you need to do something. De Luca's going to get suspicious if you just sit there, I think he's expecting – you know, a little more than conversation. For now get yourself a drink, it'll buy us some thinking time" From the way she avoided the subject I guess Rose feels as awkward as I do about the situation. I didn't actually stop to think what my request would entail, and the massive awkwardness of all this is making me regret that. But no, that's stupid, Oscar was going to be killed, hey what's a little bit of awkwardness compared with a lifetime without Oscar. Resolved, in my mind at least, I go over to the mini fridge and grab a diet coke.

"I'm sorry Mia, I'm so, so sorry." Oscar's voice is quiet and the vulnerability in it scares me, right now I need him to be in control.

"Oscar, stop. Just stop okay. I'm fine, you're fine and as far as De Luca knows I'm still his daughter. Everything is fine. I am not in danger, and now I have you to help me get out of this hell hole. If you want, just think of it as part of the plan, a way to get you in the manor. Whatever, just don't do the whole wracked with guilt thing, you can do that when we're back at HQ,' kay?" Motivational speech finished I return to my seat and take a sip of my drink, careful to take only a small sip, to make the drink last longer.

There's only silence from Oscar, until, after a deep intake of breath he asks, "Can Rose see my face?"

Rose replies without me needing to repeat the question, "No, but I can see yours Mia" I relate her response, slightly bemused by Oscar's sudden question. He looks up, looks me right in the eyes and grins; a massive grin that only Oscar is capable of; and says, "It's Showtime". I have to stop myself from grinning back, half cursing him for his infectious smile, but mainly feeling reassured that he's back to himself.

"I haven't got an earpiece, so you're going to have to relate everything they say at HQ to me. Basically we need to get out of this room, preferably without De Luca noticing. First things first, blind spots Rose?" I have to stop myself from dwelling on how cute Oscar sounds when he's being authoritative, now is not the time.

"Just the bed" Rose quickly responds in my ear and I repeat this to Oscar.

"Okay, is there any way you can blank out all the CCTV along a particular route for us to escape through?"

Again Rose replies hastily, as if she's already thought about this, "Nah, it'll be too suspicious, he'll just send tonnes of guards to check it out" She pauses, "Err guys, you're going to have to up the whole acting thing a bit, I think De Luca's getting suspicious, there's a guard heading your way.

As I tell Oscar this he looks at the floor, obviously as uncomfortable about acting as me. "Yeah OK Rose, any insight on what we can actually do?" I try to keep the panic out of my voice, I can't believe I'm asking this question, but I've really got no idea.

"You seduce him!" I can hear the smile in Carrie's voice as she, I guess, enters HQ. "Come on Mia, get over the embarrassment, you're a spy now, just pretend it's not Oscar" I scowl slightly, she can talk, pretending it's not Oscar is easier said than done. She picks up on my reluctance, saying in a softer tone, "I know it's difficult, but I'll tell you exactly what to do, you've just got to follow my instructions."

Her words calm me momentarily before their meaning hits home, "Hang on," I mumble under my breath, so only HQ can hear, "How far exactly are you planning that I go?"

I hear a muffled laugh, "Chill, Mia nothing more than a bit of flirting, you've just got to look confident," her pause sets me on edge, "and then get him onto the bed."

"What?" I cry incredulously, and Oscar looks up.

"I said chill, you're not going to do anything, it's just we need to get you out of the camera's sight, ok?"

I relax again, though only slightly, every fibre in my body is blushing at the thought of what I'm about to do. I've got to seduce Oscar Cole, a guy whom I have fancied for the past year, in front of Rose, Carrie, Frank, De Luca and several members of security staff, no biggie, you've got to be kidding.


	16. Chapter 16 Embarrassment generally

**The next chapter, a little later than planned. Not exactly serious smut, but you know, hopefully the comedy of the situation will come through. I also have to make an amendment to chapter 14: Oscar isn't wearing a polo shirt he's wearing a normal buttoned shirt. Not sure when the next chapter will be up, school's pretty heavy at the mo, so I'm not making any promises, but I might write some this weekend. As always please R&R I love getting reviews and any help in improving my writing is much appreciated. Enjoy.**

**El x

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"OK, like Rose said we need to put on a bit more of a performance." I try to sound in control, but the awkwardness has sapped both of our confidence.

Oscar nods his previous cocky grin a not-so-distant memory. Typical, he can handle SKUL thugs, but the idea of being seduced makes him nervous.

"_Walk over and run your hand down his cheek, cup his chin and tilt his head so that he's looking in your eyes, then take his hand and lead him to the middle of the room, no reason why De Luca shouldn't have good view."_ Carries voice is clear and professional, it's a side to her I haven't really see (well heard) before, and it makes me feel a little better. I get up, walk over to Oscar and follow Carrie's instructions. I reach out to place my hand on his cheek, but pull my hand away hastily as Oscar flinches. I look at the floor, the rejection making a lump form in my throat.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just, Mia your hands are really cold!" I glimpse up and see Oscar smiling apologetically, and swallow the lump in my throat, scolding myself for being so emotional.

I can't smile back, as I'm aware of the camera still on me, but I reply, "Sorry, bad circulation, give us a sec." I put my hands behind my back, fluttering my eyelids to look as if I'm just flirting, while furiously rubbing my hands together to get some heat into them. After a few seconds I'm ready to try again. I cautiously extend my arm and gently touch Oscar's temple, before lightly running my hand down the side of his face, to finish with my hand cupped under his chin. He keeps eye contact all the time, not even blinking, and despite all the awkwardness, his gaze makes my heartbeat faster.

Somewhere at HQ Frank coughs, and I realise where I am, romance can wait. Oscar seems refocused too, blinking for the first time. As I tilt his head Oscar seems to think it would be funny to go cross-eyed, so much for focused. I feel like slapping him, it's alright for him; he hasn't got De Luca watching. But he will soon, I think to myself, and oh how I'm gonna enjoy making him squirm for the camera. I glare at him, rising above the bait, saying, "Oscar, a little bit off professionalism."

Rose and Carrie laugh, Rose says, _"Way to put him in his place."_ Carrie adds, "_Well we know who'll be wearing the trousers in this relationship."_

I sigh as exasperatedly as I can without letting it show on the camera, "Guys, seriously, have you all forgotten that we're still locked in some crazy murdering psychopath's house?"

Frank obviously agrees saying, _"Mia's right, this isn't the time to mess about. Have you figured out how we're getting them out of there yet? And what about that fourth door, De Luca's obviously not sealed off yet, he's been radioing through to the staff."_

All traces of childishness gone Carrie and Rose report back respectively, "_We're going to use a video loop, all we need is to get them in a situation where they don't have to move much, the blind spot will be best, record that for a few seconds, then play it back. We can probably map an entire route by doing that with each of the CCTV in turn. All Mia and Oscar will have to do is avoid any patrolling guards."_

"_I've almost hacked into the door system; as soon as I have I'll lock De Luca in."_

I stop for a few seconds, listening to the others at HQ. I guess Oscar takes my silence as annoyed indifference as he rolls his eyes and mutters, "Fine, fine, back to the mission." The smile however, does not go completely from his face.

I take his hand and lead him to the middle of the floor, careful to make sure that it's him that is facing the camera, and not me. I watch with satisfaction as he wipes the smirk off his face when he realises the cameras on him. Carrie pipes up, _"Okay now, circle him a bit, don't be afraid to kind of stroke him, ooh, have you ever seen 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor dream coat'?"_

"Mm-hmm" I reply, Oscar looks a little infuriated that he can't hear what I'm replying to.

"_Well think about the scene where Potiphar's wife is seducing Joseph, and try and copy."_

I concentrate hard on looking confident, slowly circling Oscar like a shark, barely touching him as I sweep my fingers along his shoulder blades, and then through his hair, and then over his chest. For his part Oscar is doing very well at looking the strong silent agent, refusing to be seduced by the evil temptress. God, this really is turning into to some sort of clichéd musical, though I've never seen one when the temptress is actually a school girl from London. Though I can feel the heat of my still flaming cheeks, my embarrassment isn't so noticeable anymore. This is just an act, or a dance, where I have to perform every move to perfection.

"_Tell Oscar to stop looking so pained."_ Rose advises through my earpiece. I glance up at Oscar, his face is tight and he doesn't seem to be breathing.

"Rose says stop looking so pained." I lower my voice, though I know that De Luca can't hear me, suddenly the reality of the situation of the situation has hit and now the familiar fear at the pit of my stomach is mixing with blush on my cheeks. Oscar's reaction to my act isn't exactly reassuring either, and I get to add self-conscious to my growing list of emotions. At least when I tell him what Rose said he lets out the breath that he's been holding for god knows how long.

~*~

Breathe Oscar. She's driving me crazy, her shyness, and the determined look in her eyes; all I want to do is kiss her, tell her how I feel. Instead I'm stuck acting as though I'm repulsed by how close she's got, with Calvino De Luca and my team watching. Focus, you can talk to her later, but now, now just focus on the mission, forget it's Mia. Breathe.

~*~

"_Now step closer to him, and pull his arms around your waste."_ I do so, trying to ignore how Oscar stiffens as I reach for his arms. As he's quite a bit taller than me, my head only comes up to his chest, so I lay it there, closing my eyes momentarily. I can hear the rhythmic beat of his heart, beating just as quickly as my own, and I can't help but wish this weren't an act.

"_And now you need to take his shirt off."_ It's surprising how this simple statement can make me sweat.

"Are you sure?" I ask noticing the pleading tone in my voice.

"_Come on Mia, you're doing really well, but De Luca isn't going to be convinced by a bit of circling."_

I know she's right but that doesn't stop my hands shaking as I bring them up to the top button of his shirt. I don't look at his eyes, but hear the soft "Erm..." as he almost questions what I'm doing, before he resigns to silence. The awkwardness of the situation hits again, and I have to take a few breaths to calm myself. I gingerly undo one button then the next.

"_Speed it up a little Mia, this isn't supposed to be your first time."_ Carrie's words are harsh, and my awkwardness turns to irritation. She can bloody say that she's sat in a HQ miles away watching this on screen.

I begin muttering to myself as I undo the buttons, "God if my mother could see me now...haven't even bloody ...why don't you just sell tickets...post it on YouTube...embarrassment of the century...not what I signed up for-" I stop as I feel Oscar's chest shaking beneath me. As I glance up I see that he is struggling to hold back a laugh.

When he sees me watching him he tries and fails to look stern, saying, "Mia, as hilariously touching as your rambling is, could you please stop as I think alarms bells may start ringing in De Luca's head if his captured MI9 agent suddenly collapses into hysterics." I just grin back; annoying Oscar makes this all feel much more normal.

As I finally undo the last button I slip the shirt of his shoulders. I can't say I'm not a little taken aback by the subtle definition of his muscles; it's not what I'd have expected from someone as tall and lanky as Oscar. I'm not the only one who notices as I hear Carrie mutter under her breath, _"Someone's been working out,"_ what I guess is a nudge from Rose prompts her to say, _"what I'm just saying, it's true," _before finally, speaking at normal volume again, "_Err right, now you just need to kiss and I think we'll be set."_

I take a deep breath, "Carries says we just need to kiss..." I trail off.

Oscar nods and smiles slightly. "I'll go left and you go right?" he asks softly.

"Erm, my right or your ri-"I stop as I see the look on his face. Oops a little slow on the uptake there, this isn't supposed to be a romantic kiss, it's supposed to be Sofia forcing herself on some poor agent. It looks like I'll be leading. I have to stand on my toes to reach his face, and I grasp his shoulders for support. Keeping my lips closed I lean forward and press them lightly against his, ignoring the spark that I feel as our lips touch. At first Oscar pulls away from me, and I have to keep telling myself that it's all an act, just to make it look convincing. Then he begins 'kissing' back, though we really barely kiss at all, just move our heads and keep our lips closed. It's not that I don't want to kiss him properly, God, it takes a lot of restraint not to, but not here. Kissing Oscar is pretty high up on my list of things most distracting on a mission. Also this means that I don't have to count this as a first kiss, this is hardly the most romantic of places. After a few seconds we break apart.

"_Very convincing."_ Carrie's voice is gentle, without a hint of mockery and I'm thankful that she understands how hard it is to kiss him and not kiss him. "_Final move, push him on the bed, then we're done, and you can get out of there."_

The relief that I feel at thinking about leaving this place almost blocks out the embarrassment of having to push Oscar onto a bed. Almost.

"So I need to push you onto the bed now," I mumble in the floor's general direction, "Tell me if I'm hurting your ribs." I'd noticed him wince when he sat up before in the nerve centre, and I don't want to damage his bones any further.

After a quick nod of understanding from Oscar I place my hand firmly on his chest and begin to push him towards the bed. When we're close enough I give him a final push, as gentle s possible, and he falls dramatically onto the bed. He quickly inches himself backwards and I follow, trying to climb onto the bed in a miniskirt with as much dignity as possible – not exactly easy.

As soon as we're both on the bed I relax and ask, "Can you see us?"

Rose replies, _"Just Oscar's feet,"_ I glance over to see Oscar lying down on the bed, his eyes closed, face peaceful. From where his feet are the blind spot obviously doesn't completely cover the bed, _"but actually we could use this to our advantage..."_ she stops and thinks for a moment. _"Sorry to put you through another ordeal but this is the last time I swear; if we can record your feet and Oscars at the bottom of the bed it will erase any suspicions De Luca may have. It's a better alibi than the two of you just disappearing from sight completely."_ This sounds sensible and I'm a little confused as to why Rose thinks this will be an ordeal. I lie down next to Oscar, who has opened his eyes and is watching me, waiting for instructions. I relate what Rose's plans as I make sure that my feet are as far down as Oscars.

When I'm happy that my feet are showing I say, "Is that okay?"

Oscar speaks first, "Mia, I think Rose means our feet should be a little closer, you know, to make it convincing." I'm about to shift my feet a little closer next to his when he reaches over and literally pulls me on top of him, some small part of my brain marvels at his strength, especially since he's injured. However the majority of my brain is busy screaming with the embarrassment at our suddenly very compromising position.

All I can utter is "Oh, right." I realise now that our feet side by side isn't going to look right, we're not supposed to be having a nap. In order to move my weight off of Oscar I've placed a knee either side of him, kind of difficult in a skirt, and am resting on my arms, my face a few inches from his chest.

This seems to satisfy Rose as she says, _"That's better. Right I'll just record that for a few seconds, don't move, well actually move a little bit, just so you don't look dead."_

I look into his eyes, a mixture of apology and embarrassment clear within them. Oscar gives me a stupid smile and says, "Sorry."

I don't know what to say so say nothing and instead concentrate on keeping my breathing regular. After a few seconds, Rose's voice comes through again, _"That's fine, you can erm, move now, the loop's playing."_ I roll away from Oscar as carefully as possible, trying to avoid elbowing him in the ribs or something, and sit up, hugging my knees.

Oscar sits up too, and after a few seconds grins at me and says, "Well that was interesting, what type of shampoo do you use?"

I laugh, and reply, "It's this Aussie stuff, smells good doesn't it." Suddenly it just feels like we're in my room mucking about after school; well apart from the fact Oscar has no shirt on...


	17. Chapter 17 Corridors and corners

**OK two apologies, first sorry for the wait, but I'm kind of in the middle of some exams – art on Wednesday – help! Second apology: this really isn't my best writing, I just couldn't get this chapter right, and I've never been any good at writing action anyway. I decided to update so you at least know what's going on in the story, but if any one's got any constructive criticism that can help me improve this I'd be very grateful. Erm so an Oscar POV if you didn't guess, and a cliff-hanger at the end, well I've got to keep you reading somehow :p Enjoy and please, please, please (that was three pleases, not far from begging really) R&R.**

**El x

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I'm momentarily distracted by the way the laughter dances in her eyes, partially covered by her hair as she rests her chin on her knees. However it is only a momentary distraction, the agent part of me kicking in and telling me I'll have time for that later, now we need to get out of here. I check with Mia that the loop's covering me, before walking over and grabbing my shirt from the floor. My movement seems to spur Mia into action as she gets up and grabs her handbag from the sofa.

I stop her, explaining, "Leave the bag; it'll weigh you down if it comes to running. Take the taser and I'll take the finger pads – there's no need for De Luca to get his hands on any more MI9 gadgets." As I button up my shirt she relates the instructions from HQ, we get a rough idea of the route, but Rose will be directing Mia as we go anyway. Also Rose says that she's closed the fourth door, so hopefully we're only up against De Luca's security guards and there's no risk of a lock down.

"There's only one problem," she pauses as she listens to what they have to say at HQ, "because they're relying on the CCTV for their visual, they can only see the loop too. They're not going to be able to tell us if there are guards anywhere close. We're going in blind."

I nod, it's not an ideal situation, but it's all we've got. I do a final check of the room, and make sure the plan's clear in my head, before taking Mia's hand and making for the door.

I stop as I feel her pull on my arm, "Oscar, don't you think I should go first. If there's anyone out there it'll look fine if Sofia walks out the room, but if you do all hell will break loose."

I know she's right but I'm not happy about letting her go first, every part of me is telling me that I should go first, that I should protect her. Still unhappy, I nod, struggling not to let the fear that she's trying so hard to conceal make me demand that MI9 just send in a swat team to pick us up. We're so close to freedom and safety, so instead I murmur, "It'll be over soon."

I try to smile reassuringly, knowing as the agent it's my responsibility to remain in control. I give her hand a final squeeze before letting her cautiously walk to the door and open it. I'm tense as she strides through the door, looking every bit the overindulged teenage, but she turns back and signals it's clear. As soon as I see the signal I dart forward, keen to put myself in between the guards and Mia. I take her hand and lead her down the corridor, pulling us tight against the wall and walking quickly but as softly as possible. As we approach the corner I slow, checking that the next section of corridor is clear before we proceed. We walk down this corridor and around the next corner without a problem and I feel Mia's hand relax in mine, but suddenly a sharp intake of breath and grasp of my hand makes me look round. Mia's seen a guard at the other end of the corridor who is now sprinting towards us. I'm readying myself to strike the nerve spot on his shoulder that should knock him out; when I see another figure approaching out of the corner of my eye. Great, two guards at once; difficult, but not impossible. I decide to deal with the first guard, and am waiting for him to get close enough to get contact when, bzzzz. The guard hits the floor and Mia's left staring guiltily at the taser in her hands. I conceal my groan; there goes my cover story of me kidnapping Sofia, if it gets round that Sofia is hostile the guards will have no worries about attacking her, a situation I was trying to avoid. Unfortunately the sudden close proximity of the second guard distracts me and I am occupied by dealing a sharp blow to the side of his neck. He slumps to the ground, adopting a similar position to the first. Things have got a lot more complicated as I hear "Walters, come in Walters, confirm Sofia is hostile, agent is loose" crackle over the guard's radio. I get a feeling that things are about to get a little more crowded, so I pull Mia's hand and set off at a sprint down the corridor.

"Left" Mia gasps, obviously not so used to the whole running for your life thing, I on the other hand, not that I'd ever admit it to any of the other agents, have done this quite a lot. I career around the corner, pulling Mia behind me. Two thugs are headed towards us and, releasing Mia's hand, I grab the console table on my left and push it into them . Not quite quick enough to avoid it, the thugs trip and fall to the floor; I can't help but smile as we jump over the sprawled security guards.

"Right, Left, Left, hang on, you're gong to have to stop." I'm so concentrated on looking for guards it takes a few seconds for me to respond to her request. I stop quickly and, in a moment of pure slapstick comedy, Mia runs into me. Any other time I'd be laughing now, but I'm ever conscious of the threat of the guards, and the look of pain on Mia's face is seriously worrying me. Seeing my face, which I'm guessing looks pretty concerned, Mia manages to wheeze as she struggles for breath, "Shoes." I glance down, and only now notice the stilettos she's wearing. I almost slap my head at my stupidity, God those things must have been killing her, and there I was dragging her along like some rag doll. She's fumbling with the straps, her hand on my shoulder for support. I take the moment to catch my breath, taking deep lungfuls of air, and resolving to make better use of the agency gym.

"OK, I'm good." Mia straightens up, gladly casting away the offensive shoes, and flexes her already swollen feet. I take her hand in mine and we begin to run again, only to be confronted by more guards rounding the corner. As we get close enough I deal with one with a quick blow to the shins, the poor guy actually fell for the whole, put your fists up them kick 'em routine and I'm beginning to believe Rose's allegation that De Luca hires purposefully stupid guards. Mia's dealt with the other guard, wielding her hairbrush with uncharacteristic menace. Continuing down the long corridor we meet more guards, Mia tasers the first, and as the giant bulk of the unconscious man falls I shove him into his partner, who is pushed to the floor by the weight. As we're running away I hear, "Initiate house lockdown, I repeat initiate house lock down." Crap that really isn't good, so much for stupid guards with no initiative. Mia's obviously heard too, as she says worriedly, "Oscar,"

"I know" I interrupt, and then, addressing Rose, "Rose, what do you think of house lock down?"

Mia replies, "She says, she doesn't think they'll close the outer gates, just the front door, if we can get out there we'll be okay."

"Right" I respond, and quicken our pace, conscious that I'm dragging Mia, but more concerned about getting her out of the house. I reckon they're only locking down the house because they're reluctant to act without De Luca's permission; locking down the entire estate is bound to alert the local authorities; and that would really piss De Luca off. However I don't think we have long until the guards realise the severity of the situation, and then I'm betting it will be a full scale lock down. We take another corner at Mia's direction and I see that we're at the top of the grand staircase. I begin taking the stairs two at a time, Mia following at my side, I'm gripping her whole arm now, my heart lurching every time she stumbles. I look down at the scene that awaits us as we reach the bottom of the stairs: about six or seven guards are waiting there, I only get quick glance as I try not to trip and pull us both down the stairs. For now they're not making any attempt to come up, whether a strategic move or plain idleness, I'm not sure, but I'm thankful anyway, trying to fight them off on the stairs would make things even more complicated. There's no way we can take them all on, I'm nowhere near as good as Carrie, and even she wouldn't be able to take out seven muscle men at once. I quickly decide on another plan as I see the door ajar. If I can just get through the crowd and out the door it should seal completely, in effect locking the guards in. Reaching the last few stairs I take the taser from Mia, and pull her behind me; then setting it on its lowest setting, which will allow maximum shots per minute, I begin making by way across the marble hallway tasering any guard who gets close enough. As guard after guard falls, if only for a few seconds, at the hands of the gun I am seriously appreciative of the development department of the agency, the gun uses the technology of a normal taser but the speed at which I can recall it allows me to hit the guards in quick succession. Mia's gripping my sides, her head buried in my back and I can feel her shaking as the guards get closer to us. With renewed strength I carry on for the door, which is just metres away now. Though I can hit the guards quickly, the stun they receive isn't enough to keep them down for long, so I have to resort to dealing sharp blows with my free arm to cope with the sheer number of them. One guard get's too close to Mia and before I get a chance to react she's kneed him in the groin, I'd guess this was a suggestion from Carrie. We finally reach the door and I push Mia through it, feel a hand on my shoulder and spin to face a guard who receives a few thousand volts to his chest. I turn to go out the door and as I do hear Mia's strangled cry of, "Oscar!" and my blood runs cold.


	18. Chapter 18 Being lead blindly

**So it's a little late coming, and I'm sorry, but I have a good excuse – coursework. But I shan't bore you with the details of how the school lost my art, the terrors of IT deadlines, numerous English essays and the revision I still haven't done, I'll let you read the update... in a sec, first I'll apologise for the not-good (yes I know that's bad but not-good is more fun) writing. I'm not happy with it but thought a bad update was better than no update a t all. So here it is, enjoy and please R&R. Maybe if you review I'll update the next chapter a little quicker; P (okay so that was low, but reviews are just so...nice to get.) **

**El x

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We're running down the stairs, taking them two at a time. My feet are still sore from the shoes and my breath is ragged as I try to breathe through the pain of the stitch in my side. If there's any way to make a girl feel unfit it's running for your life with an MI9 agent pulling you along. I wonder whether Oscar could get me into the agency's gym, knowing the agency and their budget it will be pretty plush. I decide these random thoughts are not the wisest as I stumble for the third time. I'm just glad that I have Oscar holding me up, catching me every time I fall. I've been so concentrated on not tripping, that it is only as we reach the last few steps that I actually look up at the door to freedom. The empty hallway of a few moments ago is now a very different scene. A line of about seven security guards block our path to the door, a wall of pure muscle. The expressions of the men are leering, taunting us with the knowledge that we'll have to come down sooner or later; they don't even bother trying to come to us. But behind the mocking bravado I see a glimpse of worry, they have no contact with De Luca and so are operating without leadership; having to think independently is obviously worrying; if they act without orders they can be blamed for anything that goes wrong – with an employer like De Luca this is not a good situation.

I'm pulled from my musings when Oscar stops and turns to me. He wordlessly asks for the taser, and I give it to him, all too happy to relinquish the responsibility of the weapon. Then he pushes me so I am behind him, I don't understand and remembering my earpiece, mutter so as not to distract Oscar, "What is he doing?"

Carrie replies, _"He's not going to try and take them all on, he's not that stupid,"_ I'm relieved at hearing this, "_I'm guessing he's going to set the taser low and clear a path, he won't disable them for long, but if you can get out the door they'll be locked in. All you have to do is stay tight to Oscar and keep your head down; I doubt any of the thugs will try and attack you, but if they do we'll see it through your camera and I'll tell you what to do."_ The idea of walking into the wall of muscle is hardly a pleasant one, but as Oscar's already moving I do as Carrie said, burying my face in the fabric of Oscar's shirt and trusting Carrie, Rose and Frank to warn me of approaching thugs.

After a few seconds of terrified blindness I wonder whether I should raise my head, but as a guard falls somewhere to the right of me, I decide I don't want to see what is happening. Instead I only grip Oscar tighter and focus on not tripping over. Part of me feels that I should help Oscar, but the logical side of my brain reassures me that I wouldn't help Oscar only hinder him and staying out of the way is the best possible course of action. We must be close to the door, as, in the timeless void of darkness, I feel like I have been stopping and starting for hours.

Suddenly Carrie's voice is in my ear, _"There's a thug to your right, when I say 'now' kick out with your knee, OK?"_ Too panicked to respond I say nothing, bracing myself for the guards attack. I feel a hand on my shoulder and as Carrie orders _"Now."_ I jerk my knee up hard. I'm guessing I made contact as I hear a moan from the guard and Carrie cheers in HQ; but I don't actually dare to look up. Eventually we reach the door and Oscar pushes me through, I blink in the light of the afternoon and take a few seconds to get my bearings as the sudden ability to see has left me disorientated.

Frank's directing me to the main gate when I feel a strong arm on my back. For a split second I think it's Oscar, but as the arm moves across my neck and another pulls tight around my waist I realise it's someone very different. I'm pulled close to the guard's body, so close that I can smell the rank odour of sweat and stale cigarette smoke. It's not just the smell that makes me gag, and I am left fully aware that this man is perfectly capable of choking me.

In my ear I can hear Frank's concerned voice saying, _"Mia, what's happened?"_ I can't risk responding so can only hope that they'll figure it out and try to drown out their worried tones as they desperately try to understand the situation from the confusing audio and visual they must be receiving.

Panic rises within me, but I force myself to control it and remember to stay in character. Trying in vain to put confidence and authority into my voice, I say, "Get your hands off me, I am Sofia de Luca, how dare you touch me." There's a slight pause and for a moment I think the cover's worked.

"I don't think so Missy," the guard growls and my heart sinks, and he continues, with a little more venom in his tone, "and if you don't stop squirming I'm going to have to make you stop, understood?"

I immediately stiffen, unaware that I had been struggling. My breathing is shallow and my thoughts are erratic. I'm desperately trying to think of some way to escape his grasp, but the lack of oxygen and power of his arms around me cloud my thought. In a moment of desperation I weakly call out for Oscar, instantly regretting my cowardice. Not only have I just destroyed any hope of Oscar getting out of here, because if he heard me he's bound to come; but also I've blown any trace of a cover I had, and the guard knows Oscar and I know each other.

Seconds later Oscar runs through the door, slamming it locked behind him, worry etched on his face. His expression darkens as he takes in my position, and I try to look a little less distressed than I really am. This isn't actually that hard as just seeing his face makes me feel irrationally safe. I watch as various plans form in Oscar's mind, and are almost instantaneously dismissed. I read his familiar body language like a book, and, in my irrational state, almost smile as he frustratedly purses his lips when he realises he can't taser the guard without tasering me. At this point I would tell him not to worry, that I can cope with a little eclectic shock, but if I do that than it will inform the guard that Oscar's armed, and I don't want to provoke him into violence. As I watch the conversation at HQ floats into my consciousness _"... She's obviously being held by a guard, we're guessing from her breathing that he's putting pressure on her neck so she's in no position to use a normal defence move, we need him to loosen his grip at least a little before I can tell her to do anything"_ Carrie sounds exasperated as she struggles to come up with a way for me to escape the vice-like grip, but I'm reassured that they've guessed the situation correctly back at HQ, and decide that I ought to continue listening as they might say something important.

After a while the guard seems to have grown weary of Oscar's silence prompting him to make a decision when he barks, "Now you listen to me, don't get any ideas about running for help, I've got your girlfriend here by the neck and I can twist her head off very easily, so I want you to stay nice and still where you are..."

The guard seems to falter, and I suddenly realise that he doesn't know what to do next, the house is locked so he can't take us back in and without instruction from De Luca he's pretty much stuck. Of course this realisation doesn't help with the whole he's-got-me-in-a-vice-like-grip-thing but I'm hoping it will give Oscar something to work with. I'm proved right when he, having lowered his head when the guard started speaking, looks up. However the face I meet is not the one I expected to see. I was expecting a look of confidence, authority, maybe fear, but not this. He's glaring into the guard's eyes, a cold smirk on his face. With deadened eyes that make me want to look away he lets out a sharp laugh, the smirk that accompanies it quickly disappearing. He doesn't even look at me as he says, "So do it."


	19. Chapter 19 Believing

**Right so I haven't written in like, forever. But I have an excuse, GCSEs, dam they're scary. : P I was thinking about the story, on this, my one night off, and I came up with this thought-monologue (if anyone has a more technical term for it please, educate me) and decided I would post it. So here it is a 132 word Mia POV chapter, which will probably annoy the hell out of you, but who knows, maybe more will follow!**

**El x

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It's funny how the first thing I feel is a sort of numbed acceptance. As if everything over the past few weeks has all been some sort of beautiful dream, and now, finally, I have pushed the last trails of sleep aside and woken up to reality. In this cold, dawning light I can only scold myself for my idiocy; how did I ever believe it was all true? I don't fail to recognise the irony of this. Of everything: it's not MI9, it's not an underground base, it's not even a 16 year old secret agent that is unbelievable; it's the fact that the said 16 year old agent could have ever cared for me. But this is what his eyes tell me, and above all things I believe Oscars eyes.


	20. Chapter 20 Back to reality

**Okay it wasn't that long till I updated this, but as it's the middle of the exam period this will probably not be the best, and possibly a bit of an anti-climax – sorry. Also it is extremely fluffy, we're talking pure cotton wool fluff here, which I can't even write well, so it was kind of stupid but necessary. It sort of randomly switches back to Steve Johnson (remember him?) in the middle, well I couldn't really leave him hanging, hence the quick POV change. Err, I'm gonna ask for reviews 'cos I, like everyone else on this site, LOVE them. Hey you never know, if you review I might just send you a reply in which I ramble on for far too long about the most random things –now wouldn't that just brighten up your day? (Not that I'm implying any of you live dark lives, I'm sure they're all plenty bright enough already, but a little **_**more **_**brightness can't harm now can it…okay now you may be pointing out that too much light can blind you, to which I have no answer, as I have typically not really thought this through, so I'm simply gonna ignore it.) Anyways, review and enjoy (not in that order, unless you're reviewing this A/N which you can do if you wish : p)**

**El x**

**(Woo, longest A/N ever! Apologies, it ends here, you've finally got to the actual update)

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"Mia it's a distraction...MOVE!"

Carrie's frustrated voice is hardly a gentle way to break my low-self-confidence-fueled moment of doubt, but it does the job. I snap back to reality, yes the real reality this time, and now register how the guards grip has loosened slightly. Autopilot steps in thanks to weeks of self-defense training with Carrie. I kick my left leg up sharply, making contact with the guard's only weak spot. I then swing my arms simultaneously in a running fashion, bringing my right back into his gut and my left up and back into his nose. The blows are enough to bring him to his knees and, finally able to breathe properly I sprint away from the wreck of a man. Oscar's standing there, that stupid grin on his face, all concept of urgency forgotten. I reach him, take his hand in mine and stare into his eyes, the look that I meet banishing all remaining doubt. Suddenly a bizarre feeling of guilt takes over, and I find myself glancing over my shoulder and calling, "Sorry", to the crumpled, middle-aged man behind me. Oscar glances down at me quizzically, but, unable to really understand it myself, I merely shrug and pull him towards the gates. Though we, for the first time in a while, aren't in any immediate danger, we run towards the waiting agency car, which has finally showed up, and jump into the awaited haven it provides.

~*~

I was surprised when the boy acted like he didn't care, so surprised that the girl managed to get in a couple of blows, which also surprised me. Girls aren't supposed to be able to do that. But what has surprised me the most in the last minute or so is her response, the kid said sorry. I don't know why she said sorry, I don't know why I'm not even angry at the kid who just kicked me in the balls, what I do know is that I am, definitely, too old for this. I need a new career, and perhaps, a holiday, I might take a leaf out of Paul's book and book a cruise. De Luca won't get out of jail for a good while, not with the state the cops'll find him in, so there's no two weeks' notice to worry about. Talking of cops, the survival instinct in me tells me I best be off; standing up I wince, bloody hell that girl's got a powerful hit; maybe she owes me an apology after all.

~*~

We're sat in the agency car, gulping down swigs of cool bottled water, wordlessly given to us by the understanding agent driving the car. Oscar quickly briefed him on the situation as we got in the car, and he'd closed the partition between the front and back of the car before making a phone call, to update HQ I presume. Having finished my water I begin to comb through my tangled hair, avoiding looking at any reflective surfaces for fear of the sight I may meet. I can feel Oscar watching me and have half a mind to ask him to look away, so awful must I look with red flushed cheeks and a forehead slick with sweat. There's an awkward silence, like neither of us really want to broach the subject of the past few hours, but I have a horrible premonition that if I don't say something we'll never get over this awkwardness, so, in desperation , I ask the first question that pops into my head,

"Before, with the distraction-bluff thing, you looked so…serious…" I leave my question hanging, unsure of how to phrase it and wishing I'd picked something easier like, 'how long do you think the journey will take?'

Thankfully Oscar seems to pick up on the need for conversation, and replies in a light-hearted way, "I spent way too many hours in acting classes at the academy, being able to lie convincingly is kind of important in my field," Oscar chuckles softly to himself, "kind of insane really, a school where they teach the kids to lie, man I skipped so many lessons because of stomach ache all thanks to my apparently honest face."

I laugh lightly to, and though it's not a side splitting, about-to-lose-control-of-my-bowels-laugh, it clears the air of any remaining awkwardness. "Well next time you lie about me, or to me, or anywhere near me try to make it a little less convincing, for a moment there you kind of shattered my world." I smile up at Oscar as I say this, but upon seeing the expression on his face change and subsequently realise what I've just admitted I quickly look at the floor.

There's a few seconds of silence, I wrack my brains for some way to pass of my admission of just how much Oscar means to me, and am surprised when I feel Oscar's hand cupping my chin and tilting my head upwards. He stares into my eyes, a bizarre look of intensity on his face, before leaning close to my ear. I'm reminded of the day he told me, the familiar sensation of his lips almost brushing my ear lobe, but this time he's not speaking to me as he whispers, "Disintegrate."

Ever slow to react I take a few seconds before cottoning on and removing my beautiful but prying earrings. Finally alone, Oscar takes my hand in his and slowly, so slowly, leans his face towards mine. My senses go into overdrive and the world seems to still as Oscar's thudding heart softly beats so close to mine. Part of me wants to close my eyes as he leans ever-closer but I cannot seem to tear myself away from the grey depths of his eyes. So absorbed am I by the wonder that is Oscar's eyes, I'm almost surprised by the feeling of his soft lips against mine. The feeling of warmth that spreads throughout my body acts like a drug slowing my heart and stopping me from feeling anything but the bliss of the kiss. I have never felt more alive and yet dead to the outside world than at this moment, but the overwhelming feeling of joy tells me without doubt that this is right. After a few seconds we part, our hands still tightly clasped as if we have to hold onto each other to keep this dream real. I look up into the eyes of the boy that I dare say I love, and he says the only thing that can make this moment more perfect than it already is, "I love you." The typical smile that accompanies his declaration makes it seem like the most natural thing in the world, and I don't hesitate to reply, "I love you to." Before settling down to lean against his shoulder and allow myself to get lost in the no longer awkward silence and the sheer perfection of the situation.


	21. Chapter 21 All part of the job?

**So erm woo, but not so woo, 'coz this is it. Even though I am in the middle of very stressful exams I decided to write the last chapter, 'coz that's just the sort of person I am ;P This is probably one of the cheesiest chapters you've ever read, but hey it's always good to round things off with a good bit of cheese! So now I have to set this story as complete, **_**but **_**as I have, like, two and half months of no school stretched out before me I already have a sequel of sorts in mind (which includes Blane and Daisy – dun dun duunn) which I may actually write. So for the last time I will ask you to R&R and erm, yup, enjoy!**

**El x

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"If you ever do that again Oscar Cole, I swear, your life will not be worth living!" Carrie looks to be attempting to end Oscar's life now from the way she's squeezing him' she seems to have forgotten the whole bruised ribs thing; then again from the various ways she's planning to torture Oscar that she's muttering under her breath, maybe she hasn't forgotten after all. Back at HQ the day's events seem rather distant, and it's hard to remember that the team here have had a bit of an ordeal too. As Carrie moves to round on me I've got to admit I'm a little scared, but she gather's me in a much less aggressive hug and squeals "You were amazing babe!" I smile, too weary to match her enthusiasm. Rose seems to know this as she gives me a small squeeze and says softly "Yep, you were ace."

Greetings over I look longingly at the swivel chair, and am thankful for Frank's astuteness when he ushers me into it. Leaning back and marvelling at my exhaustion even after sitting in a car for however long, I'm only half listening to Frank's congratulatory debrief.

"-De Luca was successfully arrested and with the evidence on his computer drives we can make sure he never gets out of prison. Overall agents you did a brilliant job, the boss is very pleased with you. Especially you Mia, you make a fine agent."

Frank's last words catch my attention, but I simply don't have the energy to mull over their implications right now. With his little speech given Frank goes off to fill in some paperwork, and Rose and Carrie tactfully retreat to the other end of HQ, Carrie still giving Oscar death glares.

Oscar pulls up a chair and starts "So about that date..."

As ecstatic as I am at the idea of going on a date with Oscar, I really am too tired, and I get the feeling that there will be plenty of time for dates in the future, so I reply, "Erm if you don't mind, it's just today kinda took it out of me, and you're hardly in a fit state-"

"-Chinese takeaway?" Oscar interrupts. I smile and nod, this guy truly is perfect. As Oscar wanders off to find the takeaway menu – don't ask me why they have one down here – I suddenly realise something. "Err, guys, where am I sleeping tonight?"

"You can stay at the home." Oscar immediately offers.

"Or you're more than welcome to sleep round mine, mum would probably relieved if I had a friend over to stay, she worries I'm a little '_socially inept'_" adds Rose.

Frank looks relieved as Rose offers, and says "Yes, yes that sounds better, I'll contact your mum straight away Rose. Sorry Oscar, but it's erm not really appropriate for Mia to stay with you."

Slow as usual I ask, "Inappropriate?"

Carrie delights in explaining, "Yes Mia, it's inappropriate for you to spend the night with Oscar, after all we all know what you two have been getting up to lately!" Carrie's in hysterics and even Rose and Frank are laughing, Oscar's gone bright red. I groan inwardly, I am never going to live that down. Ah well I guess it's all part of the job.


End file.
